Hold on to my wings
by Calliope693
Summary: She was just a normal girl searching for answers. He was a Decepticon rejected by his own kind. Then they met, and everything changed forever... 2007/Unicron Trilogy
1. Chapter 1: At the beginning

**Hold on to my wings**

_Deu__s ex machina trilogy  
Part One_

**Disclaimer**: Anything that doesn't have an owner belongs to me.

I've always wanted to write a trilogy! Here's my chance! Enjoy!! ;-)

**Chapter One**

**At the beginning**

The frail light of morning was already seeping through the windows of Sam Witwicky's room.

Slightly opening one eye, Sam yawned, and turned on his side. He focused his eyesight until the numbers on his clock were readable.

7:44 am

_Great, _Sam moaned, and put his pillow over his had to wake up at 8 o'clock. _Too early to get out of bed, but too late to go back to sleep. Damn!_

He spent that 15 minutes just hiding his head under the pillow, and when he was slipping again in 'dreamland', his mother's high pitched voice reminded him that he had to go to school.

"Sammy? Time to get up, honey!!"

Sam groaned in defeat and frustration, as he tossed in the bed. As if he knew that Sam hadn't heard his mother (or pretended not to), a freaking loud sound came from the garage, as a car's radio switched on, and blasted a song.

_Wake me up, before you go go…_

"Alright, alright, Bumblebee! I'm up! Cut it out!!" Sam yelled so loud he was sure even Optimus had heard him, in spite their base being a few miles away from the Witwiky's house.

Sam got up, and started to prepare himself for school, all the way complaining about it. He had save the world, after all. Why should he go to school?

Optimus Prime had sworn that the Autobots would stay on Earth, watching and protecting the humans. He said that others would come soon. Right now there were six Cybertronians on Earth: Optimus, Ironhide, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Jetfire and Red Alert, who was trying, along with the older medic, to resurrect Jazz. So far with no success. But they were determined not to give up that easily.

Sam climbed down the stairs to enter the kitchen.

"Good morning, honey!" Judy beamed, handing him a plate full of smoking multiform cookies. Their smell was so delicious and inviting that they completely awaked him.

Sam picked up a crispy star, ignoring the pain spreading in his fingers when the hot home-baked product burned them. Those cookies' taste was so delicious he couldn't help stuffing his mouth with them.

"Careful, they're hot." Judy warned, as Sam's face was turning redder than Optimus' paintjob. He would have yelped in pain, but his full mouth wouldn't allow him, so he just forced a little smile. "Do you think Bumblebee wants some?" his mother asked, after Sam had swallowed, and turned back normal again.

He stopped dead, with his cookie halfway in his mouth. He remembered that John Keller, along with Simmons, had told his parents all about what he and Mikaela had done. Sam cringed when the recollection of his parents' first meeting with the Autobots came upon him. It took him and Mikaela a hour to wake his parents after they fainted, and other 3 to prevent them from fainting again when Optimus introduced all of them.

"Mom, I've told you…" he started patiently. "Bumblebee is a 17 foot tall alien robot. They don't eat food like we do. 'Bee doesn't even have a mouth for that matter." He muttered the last part, as his mother turned to wash some dishes, snorting.

After he finished breakfast and bid his mom goodbye, Bumblebee gave Sam and Mikaela a ride to school. They stopped for a while outside, not believing that they were returning to be normal people doing normal things after all they had done.

Mikaela beamed to some of her friends, as she walked towards her science class. Sam had biology in his 1st period, and his class was in the corridor opposite of the one with science class. After Mikaela pecked him on the cheek, Sam walked unenthusiastically into the school.

_It's going to be a long day today._ He thought. He was walking staring at the ground, so lost in his thoughts that he almost crashed into someone outside his class.

"Sorry." Sam and the other person said at unison.

That other person was a girl. She stood at an average height, and had a thin figure. She was wearing a black jacket over a light blue tank-top with white lace along with beige jeans, and blue running shoes. To finish off her outfit, her long, blond hair was held back by a glitter blue band, although a few locks fell down on her chest in a fashionable way.

Sam blinked a couple of times before letting her go in first. He didn't enter immediately, though. Sam found himself entranced by her. Well, not by her whole figure. By her eyes. Her eyes were odd, being of a gold colour, instead of a normal one. Blue coloured eyelashes made her abnormal amber orbs stand out gorgeously.

He didn't remember the girl, she was rarely at school. He remembered her mother was an important person in the Secretary of Defense's staff. But her name… S, it started with an S. Uh, Sarah? No. Sandy? No! Shelby? _Man, you spend too much time with Bumblebee_, he scolded himself. S…

"Stella!" A petite girl called her friend; she had magnetic green eyes and long dark hair, a butterfly-shaped hair clip was visible over her right ear. This girl was wearing a grey sweatshirt that left her shoulders uncovered, and underneath it she had a pink tank-top. She had a jeans skirt that went to her mid thigh. Her legs were covered by tight black and white striped mesh pants, that reached her mid calf, and low-heeled pink shoes. Stella sat down next to Holly, her best friend, and started to chat with her.

"What are you looking at, Sam?"

Sam jumped in the air when Miles asked that, coming behind him.

"How many times have I told you? Don't sneak behind me like that."

"First off, I didn't sneak. I've called you twice, but your mind was on something else… or rather _someone_ else." Miles said in a mischievous way, eyeing the blond girl.

"Oh, so you fell for Stella Paxton too."

_Paxton…_ "Alexis Paxton's daughter…" he mused slowly, turning to stare at her again.

"Yup! Stella Paxton: princess, cold, high school beauty. But don't consider her one of those bitchy-know-it-all-I'm-so-popular sluts. She's a very smart girl. She's ahead in, like, every subject. Her mother is the most important collaborator of the Secretary of Defence, but she doesn't like to flaunt their wealth. And her friend, Holly Hansen, is the daughter of a great scientist and niece of the most famous director in Hollywood. They are both rich." Miles explained.

Sam and Miles entered the class, and sat down.

"There's one more thing," Miles started, and Sam gave him his whole attention. "No one has ever dated Stella. She doesn't like to go out with school guys. She's more 'off-limits' than Mikaela!"

"A pity…" Sam muttered numbly.

"Hey, man. You're already taken." Miles reminded him.

"Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?"

"He sure can, Sam. He sure can." And with that, the class was called to order, as Mr. Kast started his lesson.

"Very well, my little pricks, who know nothing important concerning life, we can start our lesson. Open your textbooks at page 55." Mr. Kast barked, glaring at all his students with his soulless grey eyes.

Sam rolled his eyes, along with the rest of the class, and opened his book. He'd rather face Megatron again than deal with Mr. Kast! And so those 45 boring/scaring minutes of biology started.

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Not so far away, a metallic, semi-ruined planet hosted a shelter for Decepticons willing to blow off steam with a good cup of high grade (a.k.a. an inn). The room was semi-dark, lit only by weak lights and glowing red optics. Many Decepticons were discussing and generally drinking at the tables. Two of them, sitting at the table in the corner, were in a very interesting conversation…

"The Autobots have defeated Megatron, as well as several of our comrades!" a blue jet spoke in a low voice.

"Barricade and Starscream are still alive, though." Another jet, this one black and purple said in a mischievous and mocking tone, as he drank his cup of high grade.

"If Starscream's alive, he'll undoubtedly claim leadership over us. He tried for millions of years to overthrow Megatron." The blue one said, shaking his head.

"Eh, who knows? Maybe it could be an improvement…" the purple one sighed, as he put down his cup.

"Starscream, leader of the Decepticons…" the first one took a moment for the information to sink in, then shivered at the thought. "That idea makes my oil run cold."

"Yup, but at least we shouldn't have to do those chores Shockwave makes us do, uh T.C.?"

"You're right, 'Warp. With Megatron gone, we've been declassed." The blue jet put down his own cup too.

"Oh, I agree with you, Thundercracker." A cone-headed shaped silhouette came out of the shadows of the small inn.

"Thrust!" Thundercracker and Skywarp snarled in disgust at unison.

"Glad you remember me." Thrust chuckled.

"What are you doin' here? I thought Megatron exiled you!" Thundercracker exclaimed.

"He did. But I don't think he has something to say about it now. Such a tragic loss." Thrust put a hand over his spark chamber in fake sorrow. "But I'm positive that we will get over his loss."

Skywarp growled, standing up, followed by Thundercracker. "Get over Megatron? How dare you?"

"And I suppose that you came here to claim his position before Starscream does." Thundercracker asked rhetorically.

"No!" a feminine voice roared from the entrance. With her was another figure, of which only its glowing red visor was visible. The Amazonian femme started to slowly climb down the stairs, gaining amused glares from all the Decepticons in the room. "I will." she said, grinning and showing her sharp teeth, which, along with her crimson optics, shone in the weak light of the inn.

"Thunderblast." Thrust hissed amused.

"Hey, what do you mean you're going to take the leadership over the Decepticons?" Skywarp asked her.

She gave him a smirk the Devil would be afraid of before speaking again, this time to the other Decepticons.

"Decepticons!" she yelled, and everyone turned. "You have followed Megatron in his war, and what did that give you? Did his effort save Cybertron? Did his departure allow you to rule the universe, or did it just cause more trouble than before?"

The Decepticons exchanged looks, then Thundercracker spoke up, "Who assure us that you are the best choice for us?"

"Yeah, even the Mighty Megatron was destroyed by a human. And he was 'The Mighty Megatron'!" Skywarp added.

"And what do you suggest?" Thrust yelled at him. "Are we doomed to wander in space for eternity?"

"What do _you_ suggest, Thrust? The All Spark's gone. How can we to restore Cybertron without it?" Thundercracker demanded.

"The All Spark is not completely gone." Thunderblast said, and everyone fell silent, and turned to her for an explanation. "We've tracked a weak signal of its energy in an area on planet Earth known as Alaska. We also know that the Autobots are working on reviving it. We will beat them, if we can take that last fragment. Who's with me?"

One of the other Decepticon in the room stood, "Thundercracker's right! Who assure us that you are the best choice? Megatron never crowned you as the new Decepticon commander. You're nothing but a weak femme!" he then added, turning his back to her, "You have kissed Megatron's aft for millennia, and now you're forced to kiss a femme's! Do you really want to-" he was cut off as a rocket ran through his spark chamber, not even giving him time to yelp in pain. The other Decepticons were absolutely stunned by this.

The dead Decepticon collapsed smoking to the floor, exposing Thunderblast, who blew the smoke away from her left arm, now turned into a rocket launcher. "Any other question?" she asked rhetorically, savouring the fear passing on the faceplates of her comrades.

Skywarp took a step forward, asking weakly, "Uh, when do we start?"

Thunderblast didn't even turn to face him as a sadistic grin spread on her face, twisting it in a cruel way.

The Decepticon Communications Officer, that didn't speak as of yet, turned slightly his head, his red visor glowing in the dark.

"Barricade's signal located. Location: Tranquillity, California." his monotonous voice echoed in the room.

"Barricade will need our help." Thundercracker said.

"And we have many Autoscum to eradicate!" Skywarp rubbed his hands in delight.

"Since this human boy known as Samuel James Witwicky destroyed Megatron, teaming up with the Autobots," Thunderblast hissed, her arm twisting and turning back into a limb. "All humans will be considered Autobot allies, and enemies of the Decepticons. We shall purge the planet of them all, and make Earth our new home!" she declared.

"Soundwave," she turned to him. "Contact Barricade, tell him to find this human boy, and make sure the Autobots don't find out about our plans."

"Yes, ma'am." Soundwave's monotone voice responded simply.

"Skywarp, Thundercracker, Thrust, prepare yourselves for a little trip. Our destination is Alaska." She ordered.

"What about Starscream?" Skywarp asked, causing Thunderblast to glare daggers at him through narrowed crimson optics. Now Skywarp was wishing he could be as small as a human. "I was just saying… maybe he is still alive…" Skywarp stammered.

Thrust rescued him, "Let me take care of him, Thunderblast."

Thunderblast was going to deny it, but seeing Thrust's grin, and hearing his voice full of malice, made her allow his request.

"Do as you wish." Thrust's red optics went wide with delight, and he smirked, exposing his sharp teeth, that were matching Thunderblast's.

"The rest of you be prepared!" Thunderblast roared, "This time, nothing will stand in our way!" she said, before leaping up into the air, along with her selected soldiers, and taking off into space. "Long live the Decepticons!!"

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The bell rang the end of the day, and students started pouring out of the school, and going their separate ways. Sam and Mikaela were chatting near Bumblebee, as Ratchet parked next to his comrade.

"So, how is it going with biology?" Mikaela asked, out of sadistic pleasure, knowing how Sam hated that subject.

"Well, I'd rather being operated by one of Ratchet's scary gizmos, than spending forty-five minutes with Mr. Kast!" he complained. "Ratchet's even gentler than him!"

They could feel Bumblebee shiver at that statement.

"If people get hurt, Sam, you must cure them, and teach them how to avoid getting hurt again." Ratchet pointed out.

"Well, yeah. I know you heal a lot of mechs from their stupidity's consequences. But can you please teach them how to avoid their stupidity _without_ hitting them for it first?" Sam asked, and Ratchet became quite stiff, as Bumblebee was fighting to hold back his laughers.

"Hey, what's going on there?" Mikaela asked, and they turned to the commotion taking place a few feet away.

Two girls were being picked up by Trent's gang. One of his friends, David, was giving a hard time to a petite girl with long dark hair.

"Holly. Looking stunning as ever." David smiled at her.

"David," Holly grinned. "Looking pompous as ever."

"Excuse me?" David asked as he stepped closer to her.

"You heard me!" Holly spat, standing proudly in front of him. "Find another girl to bother, 'cause this one is tired of you." David laughed.

Sam smiled at Holly's audacity. And only now did he remember that those two girls were his classmates in biology.

"I don't think I heard you right," David narrowed his eyes, and stepped menacingly closer to her.

"You should see a doctor, then." The one injecting at this point was Stella. She grabbed her friend, and started to walk away.

David grabbed Holly's wrist roughly, and pulled her closer. "No. One. Talks. To. Me. Like. That." he snarled. A flicker of fear flashed on Holly's face, causing David to smirk at her.

"Hey! Leave her alone!!" Stella ordered. A hand grabbed her shoulder, and sharply turned her around.

"Don't worry for your friend." Jennifer growled.

Jennifer was the most annoying, stuck-up brat Stella had ever met! She was trying to use Stella to get attention. According to her, Stella was the prettiest girl in school. Not to mention, she was rich. Jennifer tried to hang out with Stella, but she hated Holly, finding her too naïve. And since Stella liked Holly's company, she ditched Jennifer. From that moment on, Jennifer started to pick on Stella anytime she could. No wonder she became Trent's new girlfriend after Mikaela dumped him.

Stella removed her shoulder from the girl's hand, and took a step back.

"Trying to escape, Lil' Star?" Jennifer mocked. Stella's blood was beginning to boil towards its boiling point. How dare this slut call her Lil' Star? Only her father was allowed to call her that.

"Hey, no one but my father calls me 'Lil Star'!" Stella bellowed.

Jennifer burst out laughing. "Oh, please! Everyone knows your daddy is a total asshole, and left your mom!" Stella's blood had now boiled over its boiling point. It wasn't her fault if her parents were separated! Stella thought she couldn't take it anymore. Her breathing fastened, and she was about to burst into tears, as Jennifer continued mocking her. "Everyone knows that you have contact lenses, and you only wear them 'cause you think they make you popular. You're a loser! Face it: you're nothing but a rich bitch, who has friends just 'cause of your money!"

_**SLAP**_

Jennifer then felt a sharp pain on her cheek. Everyone fell silent, and so the noise of the slap echoed in the almost empty parking lot.

When Stella realized what happened, a red five-fingers-shaped mark was imprinted on Jennifer's cheek.

"You. Slapped. Me!" she said slowly, as another girl, Gloria, poked her friend's cheek with amused curiosity.

"Whoa! No one ever slapped me. Does that hurt?" Gloria asked stupidly.

"No duh!" Jennifer roared, making Gloria take a step back.

"Oh, Jennifer, I'm sorry…" Stella started to apologize, but Jennifer didn't want to hear.

"Shut up! You'll pay for this, bitch! Get them!" Jennifer bellowed, and David threw Holly against Stella, causing them both to collapse on the ground.

Stella's eyes went wide, before she closed them, awaiting the first blow.

"Hey! Pick on someone who can defend themselves!" Sam growled, running towards the two girls with Mikaela.

Slowly, Stella opened one eye to look at the scene. Trent's gang had stopped dead at Sam's arrival, and she was glad for that.

"Like you?" Jennifer hissed.

_Shit!_ For the first time Sam didn't have a witty remark to come up with.

There was the sound of a car's door opening and closing behind them, and Sam turned to see a complete stranger making his way towards them.

The man with blindingly blue eyes, light brown hair, that barely reached his shoulder, and a stern expression, stepped between the girls and Trent's gang without a word of introduction. In fact, his uniform, a lime green suit with red stripes, that was a crossover between a fireman's and a paramedic's, was enough for them to decide against continuing torturing the two girls.

"Leave them alone, now." The man said firmly.

Sam blinked a couple of times. He was sure he had seen this man somewhere. But where? Mikaela didn't seem phased by his presence. She looked at David and Jennifer with a proud expression on her face. As if feeling Sam's stare, the stranger's blue eyes looked back at him with an irritability that Sam found extremely familiar. When it finally hit him, his eyes popped out of their sockets in shock, and he felt like screaming, but decided against it.

Jennifer and David snorted, and ran away followed by the rest of the gang.

Mikaela helped the girls up. "Easy," the man said gently, turning, and helping the two girls as well.

Stella looked at the man in uniform, who had helped her up. "Are you a doctor?" she asked, wincing slightly.

"Yes," he nodded. "What is your name?" he added softly.

"Stella," she answered, "…Stella Paxton." She added after a few moments. When he turned to the dark-haired girl, she smiled weakly, leaning on Mikaela because her knee was scratched. "Holly Hansen. Who are you?" she asked him.

"I'm… Dr. Ratchet." Neither of the girls seemed to be suspicious of his surname.

Before Sam and Mikaela could introduce themselves, Stella spoke, "You're Sam Witwicky, right?"

"Yeah, same biology class." He sighed in relief, _At least one who hasn't mispronounced my surname!_ He thought.

"And you're Mikaela Banes." Holly said, then added, "You did well dumping Trent!" earning a chuckle from the girl.

"You two need medical attentions." Ratchet said.

Stella raised an eyebrow, and immediately felt her forehead sting; when she automatically put her hand on her forehead, she felt something wet, and winced as she saw blood soaking her fingertips. Holly, on the other hand, looked down at the nasty scratch that was adorning her right knee, and temporarily didn't let her walk with ease.

"Sam, Mikaela, help them to the Hummer." Ratchet ordered. Ratchet made Holly sit on the hood of his alt-form, as Stella stood next to her and Mikaela. The medic then dashed around to the back of the Hummer along with Sam, looking for the medical kit.

Sam's face was twisted in an expression that was a mix of surprise and horror.

"What?" the medic sighed annoyed.

"Ratchet?!" Sam whispered, and he answered with a short nod, not turning his head from what he was doing. "But you – how did – where are – what just – huh?" he frantically threw his hands in the air, gesturing between Ratchet's holo and vehicle forms. When he finished, his mouth hung open stupidly, and Ratchet could almost see a question mark poping up by his head.

Ratchet merely shook his head, gave a little chuckle, and returned to the injured girls with a bottle of greenish, translucent liquid in his hand. He poured some of it onto a wad.

"What is that?" Holly asked awestruck. Sam couldn't blame the poor girl. Even he was freaked out just by the colour of the liquid. Who knows what Ratchet was making her take… he shivered at the thought that that stuff could not even be from _Earth_.

"This will hurt," Ratchet informed Holly cynically, before putting the wad on her scratch. "_**OWW!**_" she screeched. Even Sam and Mikaela winced at her high pitched voice.

"Put your hand on the wad, and don't remove it. Leave it there for some minutes, then your knee will be as good as new." Holly's trembling hand reach the wad, as Ratchet's hand picked up another, this one smaller. "Your turn," Ratchet turned to Stella, who swallowed hard, and closed her eyes in preparation.

When the wad touched her forehead, her eyes shot open at the pain. She looked directly into Ratchet's eyes with a pleading stare. "You're going to be fine." He reassured her.

"Those bitches were going way too far on you two…" Mikaela let the sentence hang in the air.

"They attacked us, we defended ourselves, end of the story!" Stella spat.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Mikaela apologised.

"It's not your fault." Stella started, as Ratchet kept on rubbing her cut. "I'm just mad at them, at what they always say and do. And this thing is driving me crazy." She pointed at the cut, and narrowed her eyes, as tears threatened to fall down when she remembered what Jennifer had said. "And I don't wear contact lenses!!" she scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Ratchet looked sympathetically at her, a smile forming on his lips. "I think your eyes are very nice. I've never seen a colour like that before." he said kindly.

Stella tried to hide her smile, but couldn't stop. "Thanks. No one's ever said that to me before." she said, blushing slightly, and heard Holly's rant as she pretended to clear her throat.

"Aside you." Stella corrected herself.

At first Sam thought that Ratchet was hitting on her, but remembering who he was talking about, the-ever-so-competent-colder-than-an-iceberg-Autobot-medic, he thought better of it. And the look Ratchet's was giving to the girl said it all. He was giving her the 'there's more to you than meets the eye, and this more is something important concerning the fate of the world' look. Sam made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"Here. As good as new." Ratchet said, removing the wads from both girls' scratches. Now only a red crust was visible.

"Thanks." They thanked him. Not even a split second later, Holly's cell phone rang.

"Uh, oh…" Stella said.

"Mom!" Holly cheered as she answered. "I know we're late… yeah, but… yes, but, mom! I know, I know… We should have been home an hour ago! But we… ok. Bye!"

"Are we in trouble?" Stella asked after Holly hung up.

"Yeah. We must be home immediately, but we lost the last bus." Holly explained.

"Ouch!" Stella commented.

"We can give you a ride home." Sam offered, remembering how his family reacted anytime he broke a curfew.

The girls thanked him again as they sat in Bumblebee, and drove off, after bid Ratchet farewell. The medic left for his turn of patrolling, willing to finish as soon as possible to talk with Optimus about the girl with those strange eyes.

When Bumblebee parked in the driveway of the Paxton's house the sun was going to set over the picturesque wood in which the building was. The house was modest for a wealthy family, but it was nice and welcoming. Aside from the worried/mad figure tapping her foot at the doorway, and crossing her arms over her chest in an expectant manner.

"Mom! I'm home!" Stella beamed, as she got off the car.

"You're late, Stella," her mother answered. "Where have you been?"

Stella's mom, Alexis Paxton, was your average woman of thirty. She was thin like Stella, just a little taller than her. Her rusty-brown hair barely reached her shoulders, she had deep emerald green eyes, that stand out on her milky pale skin.

"Sorry, mom. Those jocks gave us troubles again." Stella answered.

"That's three times in a row this week, Stella." Alexis sighed. Then she eyed the Camaro, and, for some reason, she gasped, but was good enough not to let anyone notice it. "Come in, dinner is almost ready. And, Holly," Holly turned to listen to her, "There's your ride home." She pointed at a Chrysler ME Four-Twelve, parking along the street.

Sam could've sworn he saw no driver, and he silently gasped when he saw a familiar symbol on its bonnet. _Man, you spend too much time with Bumblebee!_ He repeated himself.

Holly bid Stella and her new friends goodbye, before getting into the car.

"So, see you around!" Stella waved with her hand, snapping Sam out of his trance. "Thanks again." She said, and Bumblebee drove off, as she entered her house.

"Are those your new friends?" her mother asked.

"I guess. They helped us out today." Stella shrugged.

"Oh… go prepare yourself for dinner." Her mother said, and reached the kitchen.

When Stella reached the table a few minutes later, was greeted by her mother's smile. Alexis set the two plates down.

Stella loved her mother's cooking, but for some reason her mind wouldn't want to stop thinking about what happened that day. Her mom noticed this, and asked kindly, "What's wrong, sweetie?"

Stella's meal was almost uneaten when her mother asked that, and she looked up at her. "Mom, this has been going on in my head for awhile, and I want to ask you something…" she said.

"What?" her mother asked.

"I… was wondering…" Stella didn't dare to meet her mother's stare. "How come I have to be different?"

Her mother was about to put her fork in her mouth when she stopped dead. "What do you mean?"

"Well, our family crisis aside, Jennifer mocked me for my look." Stella started, and she could swear she saw her mother stiffening. "W-why are my eyes gold?"

"Radiations." Her mother replied coldly.

"It's more than that, I can tell." Stella replied. "What aren't you telling me, mom?" she pressed.

Alexis bit her lip, and sighed. "Let's not talk about it at the moment, honey. I have to leave for Alaska tomorrow. I won't be out long. We'll talk when I come back." she answered.

Stella sighed quietly. She'd thought her mother would say something like that, just avoiding the question as always. Maybe it had something do with her being on another planet? A period of time she refused to speak of, as the memory of it was painful? If only she shared those memories with her, then Stella could find out why she felt different. But if her mother didn't want to talk about it, she couldn't force her.

Stella shook her head as she brushed her blond fringe out of her eyes. Sighing, she walked in her room, and sat down on her bed, watching the dark sky lit by millions of shining stars.

Stella'd taken a great interest into space, especially knowing that her mother and father walked on a planet different from Earth which harboured life on it. She knew that aliens existed. Her mother used to call them Transformers. Almost twenty years after their mission, they came on Earth, and she knew that they somehow worked for the Government along with her mom. Sector Seven, a top secret section of the Government with a lousy name that they found cool, covered up the whole thing. For the world, the Transformers were regular vehicles, and Alexis Paxton was just Secretary Keller's most important member staff.

Stella's gaze followed an orange light, which was moving fast in the sky. She guessed it was a satellite, but soon its light became white, like the one of a star, then started to blink, alternating itself with a red one.

"It's just a plane." Stella sighed. Well, at least she wasn't the only one looking at the sky that night.

Stella sighed again, and went under the blanket, switching off her bedroom light.

In her room, her mother listened to Stella's movements, and when she knew her daughter was asleep, she picked up a black jewellery box that she hid in her wardrobe.

She sighed as she opened it, and a green-blue light lit her features. _Not yet_. She repeated in her mind. She had to face Stella sooner or later.

As if that thought had bitten her, she closed the box, and put it where it first was, preparing herself for her travel.

When she was under her blanket, she reached out for the switch, and turned the light off, hoping to block all her thoughts and guilty feeling that were assaulting her soul.

_Not yet._ She repeated, and turned the light off.

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Ok, first chapter of a trilogy and we already have some mysteries. Stay tuned if you want to know more!!!

C ya later!! ;-)


	2. Chapter 2: Back in town

**Disclaimer**: Anything that doesn't have an owner belongs to me.

Here's chapter 2! Enjoy!!;-)

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**Chapter Two**

**Back in town**

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The crescent moon was partially hidden behind dark clouds in the night sky. A few miles away from Sam's house, an abandoned warehouse hosted the secret base of five alien robots.

The sound of a door opening, and approaching footsteps made Optimus Prime turn around, and meet the optics of Ratchet and Ironhide.

"Prime?" the medic started.

"Having trouble recharging, you two?" he asked, smiling at them, but them exchanging somewhat worried glances made Optimus worry as well. "Is anything troubling you?" Optimus looked from one to the other.

"When I visited Sam, before starting my turn of patrolling, two young humans were injured by their own school-friends," Ratchet started.

"I'm positive you've been able to heal them." Optimus said.

"Yes, but that's not what bothers me." The medic murmured, then the stare of his leader became expectant, almost impatience.

"One of the girls has gold eyes, and both appear to have come into contact with massive Cybertronian radiations."

This made Ironhide jump out of his armour, and Optimus' faceplate clouded as he lowered his head in thought.

"How can this be?" Ironhide burst out. "No human has ever been on Cybertron before!"

Optimus held up a hand. "Easy, Ironhide." he rumbled.

"Unless," came a familiar, hoarse voice, as Bumblebee appeared from the darkness of the base.

All optics focused on him, and he was quite sure he could melt for their intensity.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you guard Sam's house?" Ratchet asked for everyone.

"Red Alert took over for me. And besides, it was _you_ who told me to come back for more repairs to my vocal processors." Bumblebee snapped at the medic.

"Uh… yes, I remember that…" Ratchet stammered. With the thought of the girl with gold eyes, he had completely forgotten about the repairs.

"Ratchet," Optimus started again, making the medic turn to him, "Do you know those two humans' designation?"

"Stella Paxton, and Holly Hansen." Ratchet said simply.

"Paxton? Hansen? So, it is…" Ironhide blinked.

"…them." Optimus finished. "The daughters of the humans that visited our planet almost twenty years ago."

Optimus turned, folding his arms behind his back, and a long, solemn silence engulfed them, before the leader spoke again. "Alexis Paxton already collaborates with Jetfire and the Government. Coby Hansen helps Red Alert at the base in Alaska with the fragment of the All Spark, and Jazz's resurrection." He said matter-of-factly, then turned towards his troops. "If the Decepticons track the signal of the All Spark, they will attack our base in Alaska," Optimus started.

"We didn't pick up any sign of any Decepticon yet, sir." Ironhide muttered, and they all could hear his cannons humming ominously as to emphasise his anger. "But I can sense that they're plotting something." Ironhide's features drew together in a deep frown.

"Red Alert and Jetfire will reach Alaska tomorrow along with some of the human scientists." Ratchet informed them, then he too lowered his head. "If… the Decepticons know which humans are involved in the project…" Ratchet clenched his jaw, then finished softly, "They could abduct their younglings…"

"I see your worries, my friend," Optimus turned his optics to Ratchet. "And fear the worst." He lowered his head in thought. Optimus remembered very well which Decepticons escaped the battle in Mission City.

Power thirsty, backstabbing, so clever to be considered insane, Starscream was a definite threat to any human. And though he didn't admit it out loud, any cornered Decepticon could be considered dangerous.

Interrupting his thoughts, Optimus said firmly, "We must keep close watch upon all the humans close to us." The other Autobots nodded in complete agreement. "Bumblebee, tomorrow we will communicate our plans to Sam and Mikaela. We will meet at the lookout." The yellow mech nodded enthusiastically. "You are dismissed, go recharge."

As the Autobots left the control room, Optimus sighed to himself. _Let's just hope it is not too late…_

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Late at night, in a car park in Tranquillity, a black and white police Mustang sat immobile, almost as it was waiting for something. And that something was an important communication coming from Cybertron.

Barricade listened eagerly as his new leader informed him of their plan through her communication officer's monotonic voice. "Roger that. Barricade out." He tried with all his might to remove any trace of utter disgust from his voice when he heard the news.

Barricade started his engine, driving in the Californian night towards his destination. Like Soundwave's annoying voice informed him, he had to meet up with Thrust just outside the city, where human residences were fewer.

As he silently drove on the highway, Barricade thought about what Soundwave had told him. The Decepticons had a new leader: Thunderblast. The Mustang couldn't help shivering as her name crossed his CPU.

Thunderblast was once only a flighty, girlish femme, who loved destruction. When the war broke out, she joined Megatron's side. She even displayed a significant crush on her leader, but Megatron treated it with indifference as long as it made her remain a willing pawn. When Megatron went after the All Spark, Thunderblast abandoned her allegiance to him, and departed to search the galaxy for a new leader. No one knew what happened to her in that period of time, but when she returned on Cybertron, she became famous for underhanded tactics, and the fact that she took joy in breaking Transformers, figuratively, and especially, literally.

_Glorious!_ Barricade thought sarcastically. The Decepticons' new leader was an insane femme, whose programming went haywire eons ago. Not to mention, he was about to meet with an exiled 'coneheaded' idiot.

Thrust was almost as crazy as Thunderblast, and twice as ugly. No wonder Megatron banished him from Cybertron after 'Squidhead' began to work against him.

Barricade suddenly chuckled, remembering the days when he and Starscream mocked the small jet. And who could blame them?

As he neared a field, Barricade sighed. Saying that he had enjoyed Starscream's company back on Cybertron was an exaggeration; but he hadn't regretted it either; mostly because of the fact that they both thought the same way about their war and their comrades.

As he parked, waiting for his new partner, his thoughts went to Starscream. He knew he'd survived the battle. He also knew he had to be somewhere just above Earth's atmosphere. He just wondered what he was doing up there all alone…

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In the vast coldness of space, a lone F-22 was lazily floating just above North America, which was now wrapped in the shadow.

The days of battle were gone, and Starscream decided to 'take a break' from the wish of revenge he was sure filled his comrades' sparks. That's why he spent almost every minute of every Earth day just floating into space. Its coolness and astonishing beauty always calmed him down, lifting his sorrows with a velvet gloved hand on which the stars shone like wonderful diamonds.

But Starscream was aware that the peace he found in space couldn't last forever. He knew that his comrades weren't happy with his existence. Soon enough, a new Decepticon would take Megatron's place, and would send one of his minions to Earth with the mission of 'destroying Starscream, the traitor'. The reason why he himself couldn't become the Decepticons' new leader was simple: the others would have ripped him to pieces.

That was a sufficient reason to contact Barricade quickly. But sending out transmissions was dangerous, because the Autobots could track them. And right now they would find the Decepticons outnumbered.

As he watched the millions of sparkling lights standing out on the darkness, one of them took his attention as it moved, coming closer and closer to him.

Starscream quickly transformed as the object nearing him revealed itself. It was a jet. A human jet. But it was smaller than him. An F-16 Fighting Falcon approached the now transformed Decepticon, whose hand turned into a cannon. The F-16 stopped a few feet away from Starscream, then started his own transformation.

His composition was similar to Starscream, save for his head and colouring. The jet's tail divided itself to form his arms, while other components twisted and bended to form his chest, back, and various parts of his body. The wires and parts that were visible under his black armour held a camouflage of greens. The jet's wings moved to form his shoulders, two bright Decepticon insignias shone on each of them; the nose slid to reveal his pointed head, a particular that instantly let Starscream recognize him.

"Thrust!" the beige jet snarled.

"Is that a pulse cannon in your hand, or are you just happy to see me?" Thrust smirked.

"What do you want?" Starscream aimed his gun directly at Thrust's cone head.

"I'm just glad you survived, Starscream."

"The feeling's not mutual," Starscream was visibly losing his patience, "What do you want?" he repeated in a more thunderous tone.

"Aww, can't I just pay a visit to an old friend?" Thrust asked, floating closer to Starscream.

"I'm not your friend." He replied dryly.

"Starscream, Starscream," Thrust shook his head dramatically. "I thought we agreed on hating Megatron-" But Starscream cut him off.

"That's not enough to make us ally, let alone friends. You're nothing but a traitor."

"Look who's talking!" Thrust spat back.

"Yes, but at least I was smart enough to avoid being exiled from my planet." Starscream smirked.

At that, Thrust shook with anger, "Only because you're an aft kissing sucker, who followed Megatron around like some slagging droopy-eyed pup!"

Next thing Thrust knew was Starscream's hand tightening around his neck.

"Give me a reason not to get my hands dirty." Starscream sneered, increasing the pressure on Thrust's throat.

"Thunderblast - will – urgh - kill you!" Thrust choked out through clenched teeth.

"Thunderblast? What about her?" Starscream's grip didn't loosen a bit as he spoke.

"… new… leader…" Thrust's vocal processors were having trouble transmitting what his CPU was processing. After those words left his lips, Starscream found himself amused by the news, and decided to let go of the smaller Decepticon, who bent a little, clutching his throat.

"Thunderblast, the crazy femme, leader of the Decepticons. They're doomed." Starscream mused, shaking his head in acknowledgment, as Thrust's claws rubbed the marks left by Starscream's fingers. "And I guess you're her _loyal _tactician, aren't you?"

"Think of me what you want, but listen to what I have to say," Starscream's features became serious. "Thunderblast is going to attack an Autobot base in Alaska-"

"Where the last fragment of the All Spark is." Starscream finished for him. "The Autobots are hiding its energy: finding that base is near to impossible."

"She knows where it is." Thrust's crimson optics narrowed, then relaxed as he continued to speak. "But I know something she ignores…"

"Why am I not surprised?" he asked rhetorically, crossing his arms over his chest.

Thrust went on ignoring him, "That fragment is not the only thing the All Spark left…"

Starscream's arms unfolded automatically. He sure was taken off guard by that, but he managed to contain his surprise, not wanting to let Thrust know he had surprised him. "What do you mean?"

Thrust smirked evilly, in an almost child-like manner, like when they wanted you to know there was something you ignored. He started to let himself floating nearer Earth's gravitation field.

"Thrust!" Starscream demanded.

"Something is calling, Starscream…" he turned his red optics full of malice to him. "What do you answer?" He didn't stay there, admiring Starscream's astonished faceplate, as he transformed back in his altmode, and entered Earth's atmosphere.

Starscream watched him head towards California, instead of Alaska. His sneering voice echoed in his processor with a question that shouldn't sound strange to him: _"What do you answer?"_

Starscream clenched his fists, and turned in his F-22 form, before heading towards California too.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was a nice sunny morning in the wood just out of Tranquillity. Stella climbed down the stairs to reach the kitchen where her mother was. She ran into the room, interrupting the conversation her mother was having with a quite familiar man.

"…I'm sure that-" Stella's screech cut her mother off.

"Mom, have you seen my purple sweatshirt?"

The two people in the kitchen turned towards her, and she blushed slightly for her intrusion. Beside her mother there was a tall man with spiky black hair, and blue eyes covered by a red pair of sunglasses. He wore a military jacket with lots of pockets, its zip was open on the man's upper chest, revealing a white shirt underneath. A pair of black gloves covered his hands, and he had a black belt on his also military pants. Two bright red Autobot symbols were embroidered on each sleeve of the jacket.

"Sorry," Stella muttered an excuse.

"Stella," Alexis shook her head. Her daughter had apparently forgotten that she had to leave for Alaska.

"It's ok, lil' lady," the man chuckled.

"Stella, do you remember Jetfire?" Alexis asked her daughter, as Stella stepped closer to the man with a smile.

"Of course! You are that Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, right?" Stella smiled brightly at him, and Jetfire found himself amused by the fact that she remembered his altform.

"I see you remember me,"

"After having you showing off your altmode in front of Holly and me for at least three hours, who wouldn't?" Stella shrugged, and Alexis stifled a laugher. She remembered him being brash and headstrong to the point of recklessness; a loyal soldier of Optimus Prime, who always jumped into the unknown without considering the consequences. Jetfire was known to be prone to tempered bursts of gusto and bravado. When Jazz went offline, Optimus needed someone to take his place as his second in command, and Jetfire was quickly installed as such.

"So, what's with the Aussie accent?" Stella asked.

"Huh?" Jetfire arched a black eyebrow. "It's not an Australian accent! When the All Spark was lost, I was ordered to investigate a planet named Nebulon, and picked up a local accent."

Stella was dumbfounded. "Wow! So you speak with a… Nebulan accent?" she looked at her mother to see if she knew about it, but Alexis was as marvelled as she was. "And these Nebulans… why do they speak with an Australian accent?" Stella giggled.

"Crikey! This isn't an Aussie accent at all!" the wild sky commander glared at the girl, who was shaking with giggles.

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

Shaking with laughers, Alexis knew that if she didn't distract Stella, they would stay there forever. She tried to resume her composure, and, when she stopped shaking, changed the subject. "Which sweatshirt were you looking for, Stella?"

They both turned their playfully angered faces towards her, then Stella remembered why she came downstairs. "The purple one." She said, pointing at her clothes. Stella was wearing a lilac shirt with long sleeves over her grey jeans, a pink band on her head.

"It's in my wardrobe," Alexis said.

"Thanks!" Stella diverted her murderous glare from Jetfire.

"Now we have to go." Alexis took her coat and bag, as Jetfire started to leave. Stella followed them on the door.

Stella hugged her mother, whispering in her ear, "Talk with dad, if you have a chance."

Alexis nodded once Stella let go of her. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he'll come to see you." Her mother assured her about the dinner Stella and her father would have in a few days.

"Jetfire?" Stella called out, as her mom started to walk away. He turned, and she winked. "Keep an eye on her!" Stella knew that Jetfire had sworn to protect her mother, especially after he brought her and her team back home, but with that she implicitly asked him to make sure her parents talk to each other. The Autobot found himself willing to help Stella with her 'family crisis'. Jetfire nodded understandingly, then his hologram disappeared into thin air.

The girl closed the door, and sprinted up the stairs to reach her mother's bedroom, the sound of a powerful engine starting accompanied her climbing.

She practically tore the door of the wardrobe open, fumbling around its content, trying to identify her sweatshirt with her fingers.

When she finally found it, she pulled it out of the wardrobe forcefully, spinning on herself as she put the cloth on.

_**CRASH!!**_

_Oops… too much strength!_ Her quick movement caused the pile of cloths in the wardrobe to drop on the floor. Stella sighed as she blindingly picked up every cloth scattered on the floor, and threw them back into it.

When the last shirt was back in again, she noticed a black jewellery box sitting innocently on the floor. She picked it up, thinking it was just her mom's box, but soon she realized that there was more to that box than meets the eye.

A name was carved on the cover in silver letters. Her name.

_What the ??_

"Hey, this is my jewellery box!" she remembered it perfectly. Her father gave it to her when she turned five. At that time she wasn't really interested in that sort of things, so her mother must have taken it without her noticing. As time passed, she must have forgotten it.

"I wonder…" she distractedly asked out loud, as her mind analyzed every possibility on the box's content. Her mom wasn't the type of woman who liked to wear expensive jewels just to show them off. She preferred something nice, that didn't attract attention. Stella knew her mother had few jewels, and that she kept them inside another jewellery box, placed in plain sight on her bedside table. Her father always argued that she had to keep them in a safer.

As she pondered those thoughts, she placed the box on the bed. Her hand remained on the cover, and her thumb stroke the locker.

_Stella, put it back!_ Her mind admonished her. But, as usual, another voice was making its way to suggest the contrary. _Not without a perk! It's my box, I have the right to look inside!_ Her curiosity was screaming. _Why did mom use my box? Maybe she didn't have another one? But what if she wanted me to find it? Could it be what she's hiding from me? Or maybe it's just nothing important. Beside, if this thing was really important to her, she wouldn't have left it behind. So, maybe, nothing happens if I open it…_

Stella had wrapped her arms around her as she thought, but now she stretched her arm to reach for the box's cover. _What am I doing? Mom never told me I could look inside her boxes! Even if they are actually mine…_ her hand was now hovering over the box, the skin of her fingers brushing gently the cover.

There was no one there… she could open the box without her mom knowing it. Then what was stopping her? Her conscience?

Stella narrowed her eyes, as she took her decision. Curiosity overrode her conscience, and she heard a small click, as the locker opened. All she had to do was now picking up the cover.

"What are you doing?"

Stella let out very high pitched "Meep!", almost crashing on the drawer, and whirled to face whoever it was. After a second of stunned silence, she let out a heavy breath in relief, "Holly, what are you trying to do, scare me to death?!" she hissed as she tried to swallow her heart back down her throat form where it'd lodged itself.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Holly apologized. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Beside, this is my mom's bedroom." Stella defended herself.

"Please, forgive my intrusion." Holly apologized again in a calm voice. That was something Stella really liked about her best friend. "I didn't see you in the garden, and, founding the door open, I decided to enter and call you. But when you didn't answer, I climbed the stairs, knowing you could be up here, and I was right!" she took a step forward. "So, what were you doing?"

"Uh, nothing!" Stella said, a little too fast not to raise doubts.

Holly sighed. "Hotshot was right…"

"About what?" Stella asked confused.

"When we arrived and saw that you were nowhere to be found, he sent me here, knowing you were up to no good…" Holly replied with a smirk.

"Why do you always think I'm up to no good when I'm late?" Stella rolled her eyes. Holly chuckled at her friend's martyred look. "Fine." Stella decided to come clean with her. "I found this box in my mom's wardrobe when I took my sweatshirt… I was wondering what's inside it."

"You shouldn't." Holly's wise words echoed in Stella's mind, and she cut her off.

"I know! But this is my box! I… just want… to peek…!" Stella complained.

"If your mom wanted you to know what's inside the box, do you think she would have hidden it in her wardrobe?"

"I have to know!" Stella groaned impatiently.

"Even Pandora had to know what was inside the vase given to her, and look how it ended…" Holly sighed.

"Well, yes!" Stella replied. "But remember that hope came out of her vase too!"

Holly shook her head. "Whatever. Don't come crying to me when you get in trouble." She put her hands on her hips, and let Stella open the box with a grin on her face.

Stella gasped.

"What is it? What's inside it?" Holly asked worried.

"A necklace." Stella simply said. She picked up a gold chain with a rather large pendant, and noticed that it was broken. The green stone, on which thin sheets of gold were intertwined, was cracked for almost its full length. "That's weird…" Stella commented.

"What?"

"The pendant is broken," She showed it to her friend. "Why would someone keep a jewel that's broken?"

"Maybe it's something personal…?" Holly suggested.

"Then why hiding it, instead of fixing it?"

"Maybe it can't be fixed?" Holly asked, then narrowed her eyes. "Either way, it's none of our business."

"Ok, ok, I'll put it back," but before Stella re-placed the necklace back inside the box, she examined it again. She raised the pendant to inspect it, and it flashed with blinding light when the sun hit it.

The two girls gasped in surprise. "Stella, put it away!" Holly said, her voice trembled as a sense of uneasiness crept through her.

Stella was shaken as well, and she put the pendant back into its box like it was now on fire, and it hurt her hands to keep it. However, due to the sudden movement, the box dropped on the floor. Stella picked it up, not noticing a paper falling from it. Holly did, and she crouch down, reading what was written on it.

At her sudden gasp, Stella looked at her friend alarmed. "What is it? What's on that paper?"

"I don't know," Holly whispered. Seeing her shocked face, Stella took the paper, and read it herself. She didn't know what upset her friend so much. On the paper there only were a bunch of numbers, and few strange, definitely not human, symbols.

"Hey, do you think these could be Cybertronian symbols?" Stella wondered, as her friend started to calm down.

"Perhaps," Holly conceded, "But that's not what bothered me…" Stella turned her full attention to her now, waiting for an explanation. "Stella, my mom wrote it! I've recognized her writing!"

"You're sure?"

"Positive!" then she cupped her chin with her hand in thought. "I wonder what those things mean…?"

"If your mom wanted you to know that, do you think she would have hidden it in your best friend's house?"

Holly rolled her eyes. "Ok, I got it! But what now?"

"I think the only thing to do is-"

"Forgetting the whole thing, and going to our picnic?" Holly cut her off, and looked at her hopefully.

"No. We'll get to the bottom of this." Stella said firmly, and exited the room. Holly sighed in defeat, knowing that this could only bring troubles, and followed her friend down the stairs, and to the car parked outside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the same moment when the light hit the pendant Stella was holding, in a faraway region of the Artic, beneath the ice of a dark cavern, two small lights lit up.

"_It has began…"_ that thought awakened the creature from his slumber.

The ice around the giant started to shake violently as said being moved to get free of the cold keeping him frozen. The giant reached the mouth of the cavern where he had slept in for so many centuries. He had to shield his eyes with his hand, as they took a few moments to adjust at the brightness of the outside world.

When he focused his vision, he spotted a yellow Dauphin N2 Helicopter not far from his current position. His vision turned light blue as he scanned the vehicle, taking in every details. Not a split second after, the same helicopter flew out of the cavern.

"Well, looks like I'm back in town!" a soft, male voice commented firmly, as the helicopter left the ice cavern that had been his kingdom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Aww, so here's chapter 2 full of its own mysteries!! What do you think Thrust meat? What will Stella and Holly do? Who can help them? And who's this defrosted creature?

Ok, let me know what you think! Good? Interesting? Bad?

Until next time, c ya!! ;-)


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting

**Disclaimer**: Anything that doesn't have an owner belongs to me.

Hi there! Long time no see (metaphorically)! So here's chapter three. I hope you like it, because it's not one of my favourites… let's just say that this chapter was necessary for the plot. Oh, well, let's start! I hope you'll enjoy it!

Ps. … mistakes of orthography? … try to ignore them… (it's not easy writing in a language different from your own…)

And as for the defrosted creature of last chapter… I can't tell you anything, or I'd spoil everything!! I'm evil, deal with it!! ;D

Enjoy!!;-)

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**Chapter Three**

**Meeting**

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The wind blew softly among the trees, making their yellow-red leaves fall down. The sun was already warm, although it was still early in the morning.

Along the sidewalk, a blue Chrysler ME Four-Twelve sat still, as if it was contemplating the wonderful scene before it. The rays of the sun gently kissed its hood, as the warm breeze caressed the whole car. A sound, remarkably like a human sigh, escaped the parked car.

This planet was so different from his. There was no vegetation, at least not like the vegetal life forms on Earth. His planet had nothing organic; in fact, it was made of metal… just like him. Another sigh was heard as the robot in disguise thought about his planet. A ravaged world. That was what he left behind. But, to him, his planet was still beautiful, no matter what was done to it. And although Earth was so different from Cybertron, he really loved his new home.

The Autobot had been lost in the realm of his own thoughts, when he suddenly felt his hood cooling down, and saw two shadows blocking the sun.

"Finally! What took you so long?" a musical, male voice asked.

"Sorry, Hotshot," the always polite Holly apologized, and Stella just rolled her eyes.

"C'mon!" Hotshot opened his doors, but when he saw them hesitating, he sighed, and closed them. "What's wrong?"

"Well… um… w-we need to ask you something," Holly stammered.

"Shoot." He simply replied.

"We don't talk to a car!" Stella snapped, "Make your holo-thing appear, now!" she demanded.

Hotshot sighed. His driver's side door opened, and a young man got out of the car. He was taller than the girls, but almost about their age, he had electric blue eyes, and a strong build. His hair was black and rather short, except for his blonde fringe falling halfway down his face. He wore a sleeveless blue jacket with yellow edges, and the red Autobot symbol on it. Underneath it, he had a red shirt, whose sleeves reached his elbows. Fingerless blue gloves covered his hands. He had a red belt over his baggy blue jeans, that almost covered his dark grey Converse.

"Happy?" he sarcastically asked his human friends.

"Very…" Holly blushed, and Stella elbowed her lightly, rolling her eyes.

"What is it?" Hotshot smiled at their behaviour.

"Well…" Stella started, "I went to the kitchen to ask my mom where my purple sweatshirt was, 'cause I haven't found it in my room…"

Hotshot held his hands up to stop her. "Stella, can you please skip to when you ask me what you have to?"

Stella took a deep breathe, "Ok," she sighed. "I found this in my mom's wardrobe." She handed him the black box.

"So?" he raised an eyebrow confused.

"Open it." Holly said.

When he did so, his eyes widened so much he was sure they would have fallen from his face. "W-where did you find this?!" his voice came out as a whisper.

The girls looked at each other worried at his reaction.

"In my mom's wardrobe." Stella said.

"What is it?" Holly asked.

"This," Hotshot hesitated for a moment, as if he was trying to find the right words to explain everything to them. "This is a Cybertronian crystal."

Both girls had on their faces shocked expressions that matched Hotshot's.

"I don't understand," Stella said confused.

"You mean that Stella's mom got that rock when she was on Cybertron?" Holly asked in disbelief.

Hotshot nodded briefly, before resuming his explanation. "This jewel is crystallized Energon."

"Energon?" the humans asked at the same time.

"The preferred energy source for most Transformers. It is found in underground mines on our native planet. But this," he pointed at the necklace, "Is an ancient form of said mineral. You could say it's… fossilized. I do not know how exactly Alexis got the gem, but I remember her having it when I took her back." Their eyes widened even more, as Hotshot continued his explanation. "Whoever gave it to her must care about her very much."

"Why?" Holly asked.

"Cybertronians use to give these forms of Energon as gifts _only_ to the ones they care the most, or are in a special debt with."

Saying that Stella was shocked was an understatement. "Then, is it possible that someone gave it to her? As in – an Autobot?"

"Perhaps…" he conceded.

"We also found this," Holly handed him the paper with numbers and symbols found with the gem.

"These are coordinates of our bases on Cybertron." He provided, this time less shocked.

"Why would my mom write them, and hide them in Stella's house?" Holly asked, getting over the shock of before.

"For security matters, we asked your parents to take notes of the bases they could go to in case of emergency."

"But that doesn't make sense!" Stella complained.

"I agree with you," Hotshot said. "If you have so many questions, I know the one who can answer them…"

Stella and Holly waited patiently for about a minute, then the blonde spoke up.

"Care to share?" she asked sarcastically, "Who is this _'one'_?"

Hotshot smirked. "Optimus Prime." The girls' jaws dropped.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A black military jet landed near a base half covered in snow. After a few minutes, the jet entered the hangar of the base, and Alexis Paxton, the only passenger of the plane, met an expecting Carlos Lopez.

"¡Hola Alexis! Long time no see! How are you? And Stella?" Carlos beamed as he hugged Alexis.

"Hey, calm down, boy! You're gonna break her!" Jetfire chuckled as his hologram appeared.

"I'm fine, Carlos, and so is Stella." Alexis smiled when they parted. "And I don't need a babysitter!" she shot a playful glare at Jetfire, knowing he was doing what Stella had ordered him.

"Hey, Jetfire! How are you, mis hermano?" Carlos shook Jetfire's gloved hand.

"Always flying around…" the Autobot shrugged.

"How are things going on here?" Alexis asked as the three of them walked towards Coby's laboratory.

Carlos's expression clouded. He put on a sad smile, and answered. "Well, Coby and Red Alert tried to resurrect Jazz… so far with no success."

Jetfire bowed his head slightly.

"What about the All Spark?" Alexis asked.

Carlos hesitated, and they stopped.

"We're working on it." A blond man with green eyes answered for him. He was leaning on the doorframe, and his blue sweater was covered by a white coat.

"Hey, Coby!" Jetfire chuckled, seeing the grown up Coby Hansen standing before him. Last time he saw him, Coby was just a kid with an unbelievable interest in mechanics. Now he was a scientist working for a secret organization of the government.

"Aww, Coby, I'm so happy to see you!" Alexis cheered, hugging him.

"Whoa, thanks!" he blushed slightly.

"Hey, where's Red? I'm sure he would be happy to see Alexis too." Carlos said.

"More than happy," a man in his thirties with an English accent said, coming out of the room. He was taller than Coby, and had blue hair falling on his shoulders. His clear blue eyes were covered by a red pair of sunglasses. He was wearing a blue shirt, and blue jeans, covered by a white coat with the red symbol of the Autobots on one sleeve.

"Red Alert!" Alexis beamed, hugging the Autobot. "Aww, I'm still marvelled at your holograms!"

"Oh, yes. Our holoforms," Red Alert nodded with his endless calm demeanour. "The best way to do all that humans can do."

"Coby helped us out with those holoforms." Jetfire injected.

"Nah, I didn't do anything special," Coby scratched the back of his head.

"You're too modest." Alexis commented.

"She's right," Red Alert added. "We had great problems creating matter, because it uses up a great amount of energy. You found a way to digitalize macromolecules of Energon, so that we can spend less energy to create the illusion of a touchable body."

The others stared at him blankly.

"Yeah, that's what I said. He helped us out." Jetfire said, and Red Alert rolled his eyes.

"Sooo," Carlos spoke up, changing the subject. "I'm sure Alexis wants to know about your progress…"

Both Red Alert and Coby sighed, taking them inside the lab, where many other scientists were working.

"I'm afraid there's nothing to report." Coby started slowly as they walked to a big console.

"We keep failing to get the calculations right." Red Alert added.

On the screen appeared the small fragment of the All Spark. Many graphics popped out to describe its power. After a while they could see Jazz's body, reattached by the scientists of that base. Coby then showed them the last experiment they made to try and resurrect a transformer spark.

The fragment flared and shot out sparks. The scientists started to believe that that energy would be enough, but something went wrong. As the fragment shone, its energy started to come on way too strong. Immediately, they gave order to shut down every machine. But before they could, the All Spark caused a blackout.

"Those are our progress," Coby said sadly.

"It looks like the All Spark can't measure out how much energy release." Alexis said thoughtfully.

"That's what we thought," Red Alert nodded. "This fragment is too much instable. But we keep on missing something… I'm sure of that!"

"You'll find out," Alexis said, putting a comforting hand on the blue-haired man.

"We're counting on it." A blond man, with dark blue eyes, said, entering the lab. He was wearing a blue suit, with a blue tie, making him look as if he were about to go to a wedding. "It's time to go to the meeting, c'mon." He waved, then his eyes locked on Alexis's, whose emerald orbs never left the newcomer. "Hi, Alexis, how are you?" he smiled to her.

"I'm fine…" she answered, a bit of uneasiness in her voice, "…Rad."

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Four comets were incoming fast, blazing through the pink-orange sky. They made contact, slamming into the ground and throwing up a great cloud of earth and dust, as they slipped across the field, leaving a trail of burnt grass behind them. Earth trembled for a few seconds as they collided with the surface, sending a sonic boom that caused not few car alarms to go off.

The first protoform shifted and began to unfold easily, soon followed by the others. Their fragile form didn't make them less fearsome. The figures, similar in appearance, rose to search for an alt-mode, the frail light of early morning made their metal shine sinisterly. They immediately turned to the not far away freeway, and military camp, scanning their Earth forms.

They soon re-transformed back into their bipedal mode, and took a look at themselves.

"Mmm," Thunderblast commented, admiring her new armour. She picked a purple and yellow Audi R8. She had many spikes on her silver helm shining in the pale sun. The other Decepticons noticed that she was beautiful in this form, but knew better of it. Her beauty was just deceiving, a very good disguise for her insanity. They knew that, whoever stopped to admire her, would be dead. Many had called her an angel, but she only was a devil. She was like the mermaids in human legends. Creatures, beautiful only in appearance, that would guide mariners to their death. And Thunderblast was no exception… Even her robot form made her look like an angel; the roof and the doors jutted out her back, looking like wings… wings of a demoniac angel of darkness. "This form is less disgusting than I thought." She added, then turned to her men, who tore their optics away from her.

Thundercracker and Skywarp looked alike, almost like Starscream, though the wings of their alt-mode, a Grumman F-14 Tomcat, which jutted out their shoulders, were sharper. The only difference between the two planes was that Thundercracker was blue with red stripes, and Skywarp was black and purple.

Soundwave choose a helicopter. He picked a blue Sea King; his rotor slid on his back, while a sharp spear-like pole came out his right forearm. His red visor started to analyze their surroundings.

"Thrust, missing." His echoing, monotonous voice said.

Thunderblast turned to him. "Of course. He's making sure the Auto-dorks don't interfere with our plans!" she spat.

"What if he fails?" Thundercracker asked, and his leader shot him a murderous glare.

He was sure Thunderblast would have ripped him to pieces for what he said, but her smirking caught him off guard. "You're right," she turned to Skywarp, "Make sure he doesn't fail." She ordered, and he warped to Barricade's coordinates, after giving her a brief bow.

"How many Autobots can you detect here?" Thunderblast asked Soundwave.

"Two. Designation: Jetfire – Red Alert." He simply replied.

"We outnumber them three to two…" she said thoughtfully. "Disturb their transmissions, I don't want them calling for help."

"Yes, ma'am." Soundwave's computerized voice answered.

"This will be fun!" Thunderblast smirked.

"Fun?" Soundwave asked blankly.

Thunderblast resisted the urge to slap her forehead. Instead, she tilted her head, and smirked at him, "Just some good old 'the humans will get hurt' fun." She made a rolling motion with her hand, "You know, torture, screams, that kinda stuff."

"And the fragment?" Thundercracker asked, wishing that Thunderblast would wipe that smirk off of her faceplate.

"You'll create a diversion to keep the Autobots busy, while I'll retrieve the fragment of the All Spark." She ordered. "If they're focused on protecting the fleshlings, it'll be easy for us to snatch the fragment!" She laughed evilly, and transformed, soon followed by the other two.

"Our destination is the Autobot base," Thunderblast revved her engine dangerously. "I want that place in ruins when we're through with it!" she sped towards the freeway.

Thunderblast led the way, after Soundwave and Thundercracker took to the air, blasting towards the Autobot base, unbeknownst to its current residents.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was afternoon when Hotshot parked on the curb just in front of the Witwhicky's house.

"Three hours!" Stella complained, banging lightly her head on the steering wheel. "You have a really bad sense of direction."

"Hey, it's not my fault if you humans have so many traffic problems!" Hotshot snapped.

Holly sighed. She was used to Stella's and Hotshot's quarrels; it was their way to show friendship to one another. Hotshot was determined, confident, and sometimes goofy. And he definitely had plenty of humour. He was ordered to protect them from the Decepticon, and she knew he was doing his best. But sometimes he had to give them orders, and, most of the time, her sarcastic, strong-willed, and often bossy friend didn't agree with him. Like now. They spent three hours in the California traffic just looking for the Witwhicky's residence. Holly didn't know why they had to come there.

"Um, Hotshot? Why are we here?" she decided to asked, interrupting the other two's argument.

"Samuel James Witwhicky is the only one who can take you to Optimus Prime." He explained.

"No way! Sam? But how-" Stella stammered. She remembered Sam being a nerd – just like herself. But what did he have to do with the Autobots?

"He killed Megatron, destroying the All Spark in the progress." Hotshot provided.

"Wait, you mean that Sam knows where the Autobots are?" Holly asked dumbfounded.

"Yes,"

"And the two vehicles that were with him yesterday, I mean, the yellow Camaro, and the green Hummer…?" Stella started.

"Bumblebee, and Ratchet." Hotshot provided with a chuckle.

"Wait, Ratchet?" Holly pondered. "That medic introduced himself as Dr. Ratchet…" she turned to Stella.

"The Autobots are unoriginal," she shrugged.

"Ok, what do we do now?" Holly asked the dashboard.

"Go ask Sam to take us to Optimus." Hotshot said.

"Easier said than done!" Stella narrowed her eyes as she turned towards the house. "What do we tell him, huh? We know you're hiding some alien robots, take us to their leader?!"

Hotshot snorted.

"We can start by asking to talk with Sam," Holly suggested, as she got out of the car. Stella sighed, and got out as well.

They both neared the front door, hearing something yapping inside, but not paying it much attention. Holly rang the doorbell, and Sam's parents opened the door.

Sighing internally, Stella plastered a smile on her face. "Good afternoon. I'm sorry to intrude; we're Sam's friends. Is he home?"

Ron Witwhicky was a bit entranced by both girls' presence. He was used to see Mikaela come and visit Sam, but he had never seen these two girls. His wife, though, who was standing just behind him with Mojo cradled in her arms, started to giggle.

"Aww, Ron! They are Sam's friends!" she 'whispered' to her husband. "Oh, they're gorgeous."

"Judy, they hear you." Ron deadpanned.

Stella smiled, pretending she hadn't hear what they said, and insisted. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but-"

A rather excited Judy cut her off, "No disturb! Come on in. Would you like some cookies?"

"No, thanks," Holly politely declined. "We just want to talk with Sam for… uh, some notes… um, yeah… we're in the same Biology class." She stammered.

"Biology? Oh, Sam hates that subject." Judy commented.

"Yeah, but he's not here, right, Judy?" Ron looked at his wife.

"Yes, he's with Mikaela, and the others…" Judy whispered the last part. "They're studying." She added nodding.

"Can you please tell us where they are?" Stella pressed a little. Sam's parents were narrowing their startled eyes at her. "Uh, we… we have to talk to him about those notes…" she stammered, and Holly nodded.

At that Mojo started to bark. "Shush, Mojo!" but the little dog didn't show any sign of stopping. He kept on barking at something beyond the two girls. "I'm sorry, but my dog seems to dislike your car…" Judy apologized.

The girls turned briefly to shoot a glare at Hotshot, then turned again when Sam's mom spoke to them. "You were saying, darling?"

"We would like to know where Sam is," Holly repeated.

"If you need to talk to him, I can call him." Judy's husband offered.

"Oh, no, thanks." Holly said. "We need to talk to him face to face, you know,"

"Right, it's too complicated talking at the phone…" Stella injected.

"They are camping," Judy said, rocking a still barking Mojo.

Stella nodded. There were at least a thousand of camping places just in the city! "And, _exactly_, where?" she asked, trying to keep her composure.

"Oh, yeah…" Judy wondered, "Where was that place?" she asked Ron.

"Oh, yes, I know…" Ron started thoughtfully.

Stella and Holly didn't know if they were doing it on purpose, or if they really didn't know where their son was…

"The lake!" Judy snapped her fingers, almost scaring the three of them to death.

"What lake?" Stella asked, panting. That was the second heart attack for that day.

"The one just outside the city," Ron provided. "Follow that road ahead," he pointed at said road, and both girls turned to watch where he was pointing.

They both politely thanked Sam's parents, and got into Hotshot again. His tires squealed on the asphalt as he took off for aforementioned lake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The conference room was filled with every scientist and military present in the base. They had just heard Coby's and Red Alert's report on their progress with Jazz and the All Spark. Now a low buzz echoed in the room, as the two scientists left the stage.

"We had many problems, as you can see." Rad told Alexis, who was sitting next to him.

"I sure hope we can solve them…" she replied.

"We will," he said absently, looking down at Alexis's hand. Stealthily, he let a few fingers brush against hers, awaiting acceptance to go further.

"Rad," Alexis started, looking down at his hand, but she made no move to jerk her own.

"Alexis, I-" he started, but he cut him off.

"I know," this time she removed her hand, placing it on her lap along with her other one. "Please, don't make this much more difficult than this has to be." She pleaded, and he sighed, taking his hand back.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Just remember to go see Stella,"

"I won't miss our dinner." He smiled reassuringly.

"She's looking forward to it." Alexis half smiled.

A comfortable silence fell upon them, and it lasted a few seconds, until Tom Banachek took Coby's place.

"Thanks, Dr. Hansen." He bowed slightly. "As you are aware," he started, looking at the crowd, "We are not sure if the fragment's energy can be detected, although we doubt it. For security matters, we're evacuating this base now. Most of you will return home, while a selected group will be moved to another subterranean base nearby." Banachek nodded to a man with black hair, who pressed a button that allowed a screen to slowly slide up.

"Guess who are the lucky ones?" Alexis whispered sarcastically to Rad and Carlos.

"The few scientists on this list will be moved immediately," Banachek continued, "Whoever is not on this list will be evacuated. Please, follow our agents." He waved to some black suits, who led the way for the personal not on the list.

A few hours later, Alexis, Carlos, Rad, and Coby, along with the two Autobots, and few other scientists were ready to move to the new base. The scientists were chatting about what was going to happen next, while they were waiting for the Sector Seven vehicles to come and take them to the new base.

"It's freezing!" one of the scientists complained, rubbing his arms, as he hopped nervously from one foot to the other on the floor the hangar. "And we're not even outside!"

"Tell me about it!" another scientist added. "I'll come back in a minute." He waved to his colleague, as he exited the base to smoke.

"You shoulden't! Smoke kills!!" the first one called out, and the other just waved, shaking his head.

Once outside, he shivered slightly in the freezing air, as he lit a cigarette. He looked around at his white surroundings, then something caught his eye. His mouth hung open, causing the cigarette to fall in the snow.

"Oh my-" he stammered, seeing a giant female Decepticon standing just a few yards away from him.

"Smoke kills, human." She smirked.

Thunderblast shot a rocket at the base's entrance, and the scientist didn't even have the time to gasp before the base's door blew up.

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I personally don't like this chapter much. Don't worry, though. Next one will be waaaaaayyyyyyy more interesting! *HINT: Stella and Holly meet the Autobots… and not only them!!!!!*

Until next time… c ya around!!!!! ;-)


	4. Chapter 4: Scream for me

**Disclaimer**: Anything that doesn't have an owner belongs to me.

Hey, sorry for the delay!! Hope it was worth it!!!

Ps. I invented Lori's surname, so please don't be mad at me!!:-)

Enjoy!!;-)

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**Chapter Four**

**Scream for me**

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The sun was setting down, and its last rays were giving a nice gold colour to the peaceful water of the lake. People were starting to pick up their things and head home, as the sky turned a wonderful mix of orange and pink.

A blue Chrysler parked along the road. Two girls got out of it, looking around them as if they were looking for someone. Once they found this 'someone', they started to walk further ahead.

"Stay here." Stella ordered briefly, whispering to the parked car.

"…Due to the fact that we're trying to resurrect the All Spark, there is a high possibility that the Decepticons can track its signal." Ratchet explained as the two humans sat in front of the four parked robots in disguise.

Mikaela nodded. "So that's why Jetfire and Red Alert went to Alaska?"

"Yes," Optimus answered. "We asked them to move the last fragment to a safer base…" he paused for a moment, letting both humans know that there was something more.

"Anything else?" Sam pressed, after exchanging a glance with Mikaela.

A sigh escaped the large flaming semi. "We have detected Starscream's signal entering Earth's atmosphere."

Mikaela's blood ran cold in her veins. "Starscream's back?"

"What?!" Sam screeched in a hushed tone to avoid dragging the attention of the few people still around them. "Wait, I thought you got rid of him."

"Starscream, being the brave second-in-command he is, ran away from Mission City." Ironhide groaned sarcastically.

"So, if he's second-in-command, and Megatron's dead," Mikaela started thoughtfully, "That means that now he's the new Decepticon leader!"

Ironhide chuckled heartily. "He may be Megatron's second-in-command, but Starscream has a legendary record of deceit and betrayal."

"Ironhide's right, Mikaela." Ratchet injected. "No Cybertronian in their right mind would want a figure of authority that's a traitorous, double-crossing, backstabbing, and more than completely untrustworthy slagger."

"Then why did Megatron keep him around?" Sam asked, shocked after what the Autobots said.

"Since when is Megatron in his right mind?" Bumblebee commented.

That caused the two humans to giggle slightly.

"Are you talking to your cars?" a soft, feminine voice asked behind them, panting slightly.

Sam and Mikaela stood, and turned to the newcomer. It was a girl, younger than them; probably one or two years younger. She wasn't very tall, and was dressed like someone who was jogging, and in fact, she was doing it, before she stopped to look at them oddly.

Her eyebrows were raised enquiringly over a pair of emerald green eyes. Her long hair, a mix of blond and brown, was tied in a ponytail.

Sam and Mikaela looked at each other, not sure of what to say. Like the day before though, there was the sound of many cars' doors opening and closing behind them.

The two humans saw the smaller girl look just behind them, and turned as well. At the sight, Sam's jaw threatened to hit the ground.

They immediately recognized Ratchet's hologram. Beside him, came a very tall and intimidating man, with bright blue eyes, that sharply contrasted against his spiky, short, black hair. He was wearing a black military jacket, and black jeans, over a pair of steel-toed black boots. His extremely muscular body, along with the scar gracing his eye, and a pale shade of beard made him look like a cross between Stallone and Schwarzenegger. No doubt about whose hologram was this…

Another hologram suddenly walked up next to Ironhide. He was a teenager, wearing a yellow and black striped t-shirt, and blue jeans. He ran a hand through his bright blond hair to brush his long black antenna-like bangs away from his sparkling eyes, blue like gas flames. Sam was starting to envy Bumblebee's hologram, seeing how the two girls reacted at his presence.

The last hologram was the tallest, well built, and very muscular, but a little older and wiser. His navy blue hair was short, except for the fringe that was covering the same alarmingly blue eyes the others had. He was wearing a blue and red jacket over a white shirt, and a pair of dark blue trouser.

Seeing the four men climbing down their respective vehicles made the new girl blush slightly in shame.

"Billie!" another girl called out, jogging towards them. They noticed that she was identical to the first one. Twin sisters. But the latter's hair was held back by a folded piece of purple cloth over her head.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed to her sister.

"Sorry, Paige. I-" but Paige cut her off, turning to Sam and the others.

"Please, excuse her."

"It's ok," Optimus said, nodding to the two sisters. "No apology needed." Both younger girls smiled.

"C'mon, let's go home!" Paige told her sister through gritted teeth, practically dragging her away.

Making sure that the two girls were out of earshot, Sam and Mikaela turned to the four holograms behind them.

"You're human!!" Sam blurted.

Optimus sighed, a mix of amusement and exasperation spread throughout his spark. "Sam Witwicky," he started softly, "It would be a terrible mistake for you, or anyone else, assuming that we are human in anything but shape."

"These are our holograms, or holoforms, or holos, for short." Ratchet explained. "They have the same function of a screen-saver on a computer; a great waste of energy just to make a machine more human. In this case, quite literally." He chuckled slightly.

"Sam." He turned when he heard his name being called by a worried Mikaela. As soon as he followed her gaze, he knew why she was so worried.

_Oh, no! No, no, no, no!!_ His mind screamed.

Two girls were making their way towards them. One was slightly taller than the other, and had her long blond hair held back by a pink bang. She was wearing a purple sweatshirt over grey jeans. The other girl was wearing an orange cardigan over a white shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Her long dark hair was tied in two low pigtails, and she had a butterfly-shaped hair clip over her right ear.

They immediately recognized the two girls. Stella and Holly. Why was Destiny always making their paths cross? Why were they there?

They both ran towards them, intercepting the girls before they could get closer to the Autobots.

"Hi, guys!" Mikaela said cheerfully.

"Hi," both girls said at the same time, trying to be as cheerful as the other two teens.

"So, what are you doing here?" Sam's smile was looking more than a little forced, and when he said this, Mikaela elbowed him lightly.

"Just a little walk," Holly said nonchalantly.

"I hope we're not interrupting anything," Stella asked, her smile too looking a bit forced.

"Oh, no. We were… uh," the brunette looked at her boyfriend to see if he could come up with an excuse.

"Just – just… enjoying the twilight with our friends." He nodded, pointing behind him at the setting sun.

Stella nodded slowly. "Is that the guy with the Hummer from yesterday?" she pointed at the brunette man standing next to the lime green truck. "What was his name?" she added, pretending not to remember it.

Sam panicked. _Why can't this girl ask me something I can answer?!_ "It's… uh…" he looked at Mikaela.

"Dr. Ratchet!" she burst out.

"Yeah." Sam echoed, nodding. "Uh-huh."

The blonde nodded. "You know, it's funny." Stella chuckled slightly, a strange predatory glee in her gold eyes. "Few minutes ago, it looked like you were talking to those cars." She said pleasantly, savouring the explosion of the bombshell she'd just dropped.

Sam's heart _visibly_ dropped down to the floor.

"Oh, we do it as well." Stella waved nonchalantly.

Sam and Mikaela had the disturbing impression that they were playing a strange game of cat and mouse. And unfortunately for them, they weren't the ones pulling the strings.

Suddenly though, the corner of Mikaela's mouth curved upwards. "And you even forget to pull the brake." She pointed behind the two young women with her finger.

"Huh?" raising an eyebrow, the two girls turned to stare at the blue Chrysler just a foot away from their shins.

"HOTSHOT!!" they both screamed at the same time, almost jumping a meter in the air.

"You named your car Hotshot?!" Sam asked, recovering from their high pitched tone.

"I didn't!" Stella shrieked.

"He introduced himself as such," Holly explained in a calmer voice.

Sam and Mikaela were staring at them with an expression no word can describe.

"Oh, don't give me that look." Stella groaned. "Besides, you named your car Bumblebee."

Sam and Mikaela stared at each other with concerned expressions. Why do these two girls seem to know the Autobots?

By the time Stella was arguing with the still car, the sun had finally set down, and few stars were glowing shyly, as the moon began to take its place in the night sky. The park around the lake was peaceful, except for the gesturing blond girl, who was arguing with an unanimated car. None of the teens noticed that the four men behind them had mysteriously disappeared.

"Ok look, Shottie," Stella said in an annoyed voice. "I think your cover is pretty much blown, so stop being a jerk, and transform." But she got absolutely no response from the blue car.

Stella sighed loudly. "Ok, Hotshot, you asked for it." She said, before taking one of her long, blond bangs between her fingers, and rubbing it softly on the car's vent.

"Uh, oh," Holly said, then she convinced Sam and Mikaela to take a few steps away.

"What is she doing?!" Sam blurted.

"You might not believe me if I tell you." Holly muttered.

"Let us decide what to believe or not believe." Mikaela said, folding her arms.

Holly sighed, and shrugged. "Then look."

Ten tickling seconds later they had the impression that the car was breathing, then that it was trying to hold its breath, and then…

"Atchoo!!" it sneezed.

The car sneezed!

Stella carefully jumped away a split second before the sneezing sound. She rejoined the group of teens with a proud smirk on her face. Holly just shook her head.

"You're evil!" A musical voice ranted, coming from the Chrysler.

"I love you too!" Stella smirked pleasantly.

Few seconds later, the car started to unfold itself. Its gears begun to move, and slide themselves into a new position, until a blue robot raised up above them.

The hood of the car divided itself to form the robot's shoulders, and let his head emerge. He had something resembling a yellow peak on his forehead. His front tires slipped on his red upper arms, while the doors slid on his blue forearms, covering three, very impressive missiles. Various pieces of his engine formed his blue, flat, (and very masculine…) chest and abdomen. The back of the car formed his blue boots, with a tire at each ankle.

Sam and Mikaela watched awestruck as the newly-transformed robot held his nose, like someone who was trying not to sneeze again.

Deciding he had had enough, Sam started. "What, when, where…" he mumbled incoherently. "W-who are you?!" he demanded.

Before the blue robot could introduce himself, the sounds of whirring and scraping filled the night air, and they heard the familiar gruff voice of the weapon specialist.

"Hotshot!"

"Hey, Hide. S'up?" Hotshot grinned at the black Autobot.

Stella and Holly watched the other four vehicles transforming in their real, towering form in fascinated disbelief. For few moments the robots seemed to have forgotten about their human friends, as they attended their 'family reunion'.

"Hey, Bumble! Long time no see." The blue Autobot greeted, as he tapped his fist against Bumblebee's.

"Why are you here? Why didn't you let us know you were here?" Ironhide demanded in a rush.

"Whoa, so many questions." Hotshot raised his hands in defence. "I was ordered by Jetfire to watch over these two…" he waved his hand to point at the two girls at his feet, before turning to Bumblebee again. "I sure hope your charge is not as bad as them…" he whispered, trying to shield his mouth with his blue hand.

"You are aware that we are still here, right?" Holly deadpanned.

"Can somebody explain what's going on?!" Sam asked exasperated.

Optimus knelt down until his huge face was at about the humans' level, causing the two new girls to hold their breath. And although they were used to this, even Sam and Mikaela felt a bit uneasy as the towering Autobot came so close to them.

"You must be Stella Paxton, daughter of Alexis Paxton and Rad White." He watched the blonde girl for a moment, then turned to the dark haired one. "And you are Holly Hansen, daughter of Lori Delgado and Coby Hansen."

"Yes, and you are Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots!" Stella almost squealed in delight.

"It's an honour to meet you!" Holly smiled, still startled by the red and blue giant's height.

Optimus smiled at them, and he noticed Sam's still startled face. To prevent the boy from having a heart attack, he decided to explain Hotshot's presence on Earth.

"Sam, Mikaela, this is Hotshot." He gestured to the blue robot behind them, and they looked up at him. "Hotshot," he continued, "This is Sam, Bumblebee's charge, and his sparkmate, Mikaela."

Sam looked away, and Mikaela scratched her head, as Stella and Holly were trying to hold in their giggles at the two teens' embarrassment.

"How did you know the Autobots?" Sam asked, desperately trying to get over his embarrassment.

"Our parents visited Cybertron almost twenty years ago." Holly explained.

"What?!" the couple asked dumbfounded.

Optimus sighed, before he started his explanation with his endless calmness.

"A group of human astronauts should have been sent on the Moon twenty years ago. However, two days after the lift off, they were sucked into a wormhole, and teleported on Cybertron." Sam and Mikaela listened to him with slack jaws. "Luckily for them, we found them before the Decepticons. Repairs to their ship lasted almost an Earth year, and during that time we befriended them."

"More like preventing them from getting squished by Cybertronians — whether Decepticons or Autobots." Ironhide grunted, snorting.

"Oh, you must talking about Kicker." Holly piped in.

Ironhide snorted again, unfolding his arms, and glaring at her hard. Apparently, just naming the human boy who gave him a hard time back on Cybertron was enough to hear the hissing of his cannons.

The weapons spun, and he aimed them at the girls, which could be said he aimed them at Hotshot's foot, as both girls suddenly used his leg as a shelter.

Optimus glared at his weapon specialist, but the blonde spoke before he could admonish him.

"Wow! You must be Ironhide!"

"How can you tell?" Ironhide demanded, looking nasty, still pointing his cannons at the small human females.

"Incredibly loyal to Optimus, impulsive, determined, possibly the toughest thing since the Terminator…" Stella started to list those features, still partially shielded behind Hotshot's leg. "Oh, and the spinny thing you just did? _Totally_ spaghetti westerns!"

"Hotshot told us about you, Mr. Ironhide." Holly injected, emerging timidly from her hiding spot.

Ironhide smiled slightly, making the most of the darkness to cover his proud smirk, and spun his cannons again to where they sat back on his forearms, deactivating them.

After this not so warm welcome, Bumblebee, a bit excited to know more humans, knelt down to their height, then extended a finger to them in a gesture of a human handshake.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Stella and Holly. My name is Bumblebee. I am Sam's guardian."

Stella smiled at Holly as they glanced at each other, before both girls shook Bumblebee's finger in a rather friendly manner.

"And I believe you'd already met Ratchet, your rescuer."

Both girls looked up at the lime green robot with red stripes, who nodded curtly.

"Your pulse has increased," Ratchet stated. "Are you frightened?"

"I understand that it can be highly shocking to see us in our true forms…" Optimus started kindly.

Stella shook her head. "Well, I'm actually excited!" she then looked at Holly to see if she had recovered from her previous shock.

"Yes," she nodded, before turning again to Ratchet. "Thanks again for helping us yesterday."

Ratchet nodded. "You're welcome."

Introductions done, a deafening silence fell among the humans and robots. Stella's gold eyes were darting between the four Autobots she'd just met, who were all looking at her in different ways: Optimus had a strange worry in his clear blue optics, while Bumblebee looked curious between her and her friend; Ironhide's expression was hard to catch due to the fact that he was as black as the night, but she assumed he was glaring at them, just like Ratchet was.

Even Sam and Mikaela were looking curiously at Hotshot, probably with billions of thoughts in their heads. Holly was the only one trying to avoid the glances of the others, deciding that focusing on the ground would have been better.

Since it was practically her fault, Stella decided she might as well be the one to break the awkward silence that was beginning to consume them.

"Uhm," the blonde cleared her throat. "O-optimus, sir." She started, all her bluntness seemed to flee from her as she felt overwhelmed by the Autobot's height.

"Yes, Miss Paxton?" he invited with his calm, baritone voice.

"I… I wanted to ask you something…" she stammered. Then she gathered all her courage, and, shoving her hand in her pant's pocket, she took a step forward.

"I found this jewel at home," she started, taking the necklace out of its little black box. "I thought it might have been something coming from Cybertron, and Hotshot said I should ask you…" she said, holding the green rock so that Optimus could see it.

Optimus took a look at the jewel, then he, Ratchet and Ironhide glanced at each other with something deeper than she could comprehend.

_I don't like the way they're looking at each other,_ Stella thought warily. _They're as worried as Hotshot was._

"Where did you find this jewel?" Optimus started.

"In my mom's wardrobe." Stella said, like she did when Hotshot asked her the same question. And, to prevent Optimus to go into a long song and dance about the Cybertronian crystal, she added, "Hotshot already told us that this is crystallized Energon."

"Energon?" Sam asked, his mind desperately trying to keep up with everything that was happening.

"The preferred energy source for the Transformers." Holly explained, repeating Hotshot's words.

Sam opened his mouth to say something, but then he understood that no word would come out of it, and decided to close it.

"I would like to know if you know who gave this jewel to my mom." Stella asked, hesitating for a moment, twiddling her thumbs.

"What did your mother tell you about this?" the leader asked, after a pause in which the humans were sure he was talking to the other on their comm. link.

And that was the question Stella dreaded the most. The only question she was fearing he would have asked, and the only one that made her feel somewhat guilty.

"Well…" she lowered her head. "She never told about it. When I ask her about her time on Cybertron, she always changes the subject. She talks about you with great respect, but she never mentions what she really did." She paused as she sighed. "I found that jewel by accident. I had a strange feeling about it… something – I don't know – told me to open the box and look at the rock… it's hard to explain…" another sigh. "You know, a sort of sixth sense… Like in the movies. I felt that… there was something…"

"More than meets the eye?" Optimus provided.

"Yeah," she nodded, feeling a total fool for using metaphors to explain her endless curiosity.

"I understand," Optimus said, and Sam slightly wondered if the Autobot leader really did understand or if he was just saying it. "But I'm afraid there is not much I can tell you. I only know that an honourable warrior gave this jewel to your mother, but unfortunately, went off-line before we came to Earth…" he lowered his head as a sign of respect for the fallen warrior.

"Oh," Stella's head lowered in disappointment, but then she raised it again, a fake smiled plastered on her face. "Thanks anyway, Optimus."

Optimus smiled sympathetically at her, but then he looked in the distance, and the other Autobots stiffened as well.

The humans made it clear they didn't like how the robots had reacted.

"Optimus…?" Sam started, but the leader hushed him.

The other three girls glanced at each other, before they looked back at him. "What is it?" Mikaela asked worriedly.

"Someone's here." Hotshot's musical voice was strangely filled with worry and anxiety. The humans looked up at him, his glowing blue optics were the only distinguishing feature in the darkness. "It's maybe better if you - **GET DOWN!!**"

The blue Autobot jumped in front of them to shield the humans from an incoming missile, unfortunately, getting hit in the process.

Hotshot was sent flying a few feet back by the missile impacting with his chest, and landed on his back, sending tremors through the earth around him, and causing the humans to fall down as well.

"Incoming!" Ironhide roared, spinning his huge cannons.

_No, no, no!_ Sam's mind panicked. He wasn't ready to face a Decepticon yet… and, judging by her expression, he acknowledged that Mikaela wasn't ready either. Stella and Holly watched in absolute horror the laying form of their guardian.

For a moment, the four humans stood petrified on all fours, just like deer caught by the headlights of a car. Time stood still, like the blue Autobot, before Ratchet approached him as fast as he could to check his injuries.

Hearing the young Autobot groaning made him realize he wasn't damaged too much, so he turned to the still paralyzed humans. "Don't just stay there. RUN!!"

The tone he used made them all stand. Sam turned to look at the girls, seeing the same terrorized expressions on their faces.

After a brief moment, Mikaela gathered her remaining courage. "You heard the doctor? - _**RUN**_!" she yelled at them, and they obliged, not giving it second thought.

As he ran for his life, Sam found himself looking at the Autobots over his shoulder.

"Show yourself, _Decepti-scum_!" Ironhide demanded, his thunderous voice echoing throughout the scared stillness of the lake.

"I'm right here, Auto-dork!" a mischievous voice teased, as what looked like a black and purple F-14 practically _materialized_ few feet above the Autobots.

"Skywarp!" Ironhide growled.

This was all Sam could hear, before he decided to look ahead at the other three girls, whose breathing was loud and fast.

"Does anyone have a plan?" Sam chocked as he ran.

"Yeah, run for it!" Mikaela yelled, not even turning her head.

"Does anyone have a _good_ plan?" Stella's sarcasm was cracked by her panting voice.

Suddenly, a huge silhouette stood in front of them like a barrier. The teenagers tried to avoid the newly transformed Barricade, skidding to a stop before him, but being fast enough to turn left or right, with screams of absolute terror, that barely covered the police car's Cybertronian screeches.

Sam turned left, following Mikaela, but he whipped around when an ear-piercing scream came from behind him along with the sickening _thump_ of a body hitting the ground hard.

"Holly!" he heard Stella yelling from the opposite side.

The dark-haired girl had fallen to the ground. She let out a strangled gasp, as she saw the shadowy figure hovering over her menacingly.

The girl's arms flew on her head to shield it, as she laid on the clod grass, which she was trying to become as one with. She shut her green eyes close, when she felt something large flying over her, and crashing into the crimson-eyed robot, bringing him to the ground with inhuman battle cries.

Holly cried out in fear, when the sound of friction of metal on metal filled the night air, as the two robots wrestled each other.

She felt her forearms being grabbed by cold and trembling hands, as two people helped her on her feet.

"Holly, c'mon!" Stella screamed, as at the same time Sam shouted, "We've gotta go!"

The two of them helped a shivering Holly to her feet, but suddenly all three of them froze.

The ground underneath them began to quake under the steady thumps of footfalls coming their way. The humans stared at each other in fear, as the whine of gears and moving metal parts deafened their ears.

Suddenly, the throbbing sound stopped, just as it had begun. But this didn't make the humans feel better. Slowly, they watched in terror behind them.

An enormous creature hovered over them. His red optics let them know that he was a Decepticon, and made their blood run cold in their veins. If he wasn't risking his life, Sam had probably found himself laughing at this Decepticon's head: it looked like a cone!

Not waiting for this machine to move, they resumed their rush as quickly as they could.

Not quickly enough for Stella, though. She felt the robot's cold finger-like-claws wrapping and closing around her body like a vice.

Stella screamed at the top of her lungs, making Sam, Mikaela and Holly turn and yell for help. The robot brought his hand close to his face, to take a better look at her.

The scream died in her throat, and was replaced by silent tears slipping on her cheeks as the cone-headed robot watched her through his crimson red eyes.

He smirked, showing her his razor-like teeth. "What lovely eyes," the alien sneered.

Her breath too got caught in her throat, as she found herself cramped in his large hand.

"Would you do something for me, human?" He asked her mockingly, and she whimpered something that might have been a '_what?_' in response. He paused, smirking wider, making it clear he liked to see the panic in her golden eyes.

He brought her closer to his mouthplate, and whispered teasingly three words that would not have been out of place in all of her nightmares. "Scream for me!"

Oh, how she wanted to oblige. But she found herself not being able to. Her eyes widened, and she completely lost her voice, wondering if that was really the end for her. Where was Optimus? Was Hotshot too much injured to help her? Couldn't Ratchet come for a minute? Couldn't Bumblebee stop wrestle Barricade and help her? Even Ironhide was busy?

_Please, someone – _anyone_ – save me!_ Her mind pleaded.

Then, like an angel coming from heaven, something big impacted with Thrust, making him drop the blond girl.

Stella fell for few feet, before another hand grabbed her. She thought it was Optimus coming to her rescue, but when she reopened her eyes, she whished she'd never asked for someone to come and save her.

Another pair of crimson lights watched her intently. This robot too had a jet as his alt-form, but was bigger than the cone-headed one. This Decepticon was beige, and had a mouthpiece where his mouth should be.

Stella instinctively sank down to her back, and noticed that his hand wasn't wrapped around her. His palm was open, and she was practically laying on it, her body barely covering the whole hand's length.

Few seconds, that seemed eternal to her, passed as they just stared at each other. His crimson optics stared, transfixed, at the amber orbs that regarded him with terror.

After few blinks, Stella noticed his stare wasn't focused on her anymore. She followed his gaze, until her own fell on the necklace sprawled few inches away from her right hand.

"Where did you get this?" He demanded, his voice was definitely a bit high-pitched.

Just like before, she was unable to answer.

"Starscream!" Ironhide growled, running towards him, and leaving a dented Skywarp behind. "What are you doing?!"

"Let her go, Starscream!" Optimus thundered, a long, orange sword in his hand.

Stella's jaw continued to tremble uncontrollably, as Starscream stood in silence, glaring at the Autobots, knowing too well they would never attack him right now.

"Good job, Starscream." Thrust hissed, raising to his feet, as he was followed by a limping Barricade. "Now give me the human." He demanded.

Stella's pleading eyes focused on Starscream's optics, whose light were giving them a nice orange colour. He stared at her, then back at the two Autobots, who were joined by Bumblebee. All three of them were aiming their weapons at him.

"I don't think I will, Thrust." Starscream answered, after a pause that seemed too long for everyone's liking.

"Then you have your answer." Thrust snorted, before shooting Starscream with his gun.

Starscream was hit on the shoulder, and forced on the ground, before the shocked expressions of Autobots and humans alike.

Stella cried out in fear when the bolt hit her capturer, and snatched the jewel, holding tightly on it, as if it could save her. However, Starscream tried as best as he could to prevent her from falling, bringing the hand she was sitting in to his chest.

Being cramped between his chest and hand didn't make Stella hit the ground from several feet up. Her eyes were close as she felt like she was inside a big washing machine. When finally she heard the deafening sound of a metallic, giant body land on the grass, she slowly opened her eyes.

She laid on his chest, and only three of his fingers were covering her body. His optics were turned off; he probably fainted, or something like that.

Raising a bit on all fours, still clutching tightly the gem, Stella glanced at the nasty looking hole in his shoulder. A greenish liquid was pouring out of the wound. She suddenly felt guilty about it. He tried to save her, after all.

"Stella?" she heard her name being called by Holly, then Sam and Mikaela.

"Stella, are you ok?" Ratchet asked, after he pried Starscream's fingers off her body.

She looked shocked, confused, and terrorized, but other than that, she was alright.

"I-is he…?" she asked in a trembling, rasped whisper, as she sat in Ratchet's hand.

He used his scanners to check the injuries. "No, but he will be if I don't take him to the base."

"Please, please do it! Save him!!" Stella cried, apparently regaining her voice.

"Are you kidding?!" Ironhide barked. "That is a Decepticon! Who do you think we fight?!"

"Easy, Ironhide." Optimus held up a hand. "The battle was a tough one, and we need to be repaired. Ratchet, take Starscream to the base, and help him."

Ratchet nodded, and Stella took a breath of relief, while Ironhide bellowed in rage, Hotshot and Bumblebee muttered something in their weird, bleeping language, and the humans began to chatter at Optimus in a panic.

"_Silence!_" he boomed loudly, causing them to fall silent to listen. "We are Autobots, we help those in need. And although we fight the Decepticons, for once, Starscream didn't attack us, but even tried to protect a human. And, more important: a life is a life, and we have to help him."

The tone he used made everyone reconsider their words and thoughts.

"Autobots," Optimus stared at all of them, before he ordered, "Transform, and roll out!" They did, letting their human friends climb inside them.

Only Ratchet and Ironhide stayed behind.

Ironhide snorted, as he loaded Starscream in Ratchet's alt-mode.

"Don't let him out of your sight." He warned.

"I doubt he has much choice right now." The medic muttered, as both vehicles left the lake in the same peace they had found it… it didn't even looked like there had been a battle that would have changed everything…

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Wow! I sure hope yo liked this chapter!

Until next time… c ya around!!!!! ;-)


	5. Chapter 5: Recovering

**Disclaimer**: Anything that doesn't have an owner belongs to me.

Sooorrrrryyyy for the delay!! Hope it was worth it!!!

Enjoy!!;-)

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**Chapter Five**

**Recovering**

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"So let me get this straight…" Sam started, eyeing cautiously the dark-haired girl, who was trying to fix her pants so that they wouldn't fall on the floor.

Several hours passed after the battle, and the humans decided to go to the Autobot base, to change clothes, and show the new girls around; not to mention being checked over by Ratchet.

Obviously, Mikaela gave Stella and Holly some clothes she had there. And while Stella had the same size as Mikaela (although the blonde was a bit shorter), Holly found her jeans too large. The girl was really skinny. And now she was struggling not to let her pants fall from her hips.

"Your parents went to Cybertron?!" Sam continued in a stupefied tone.

"Yeah," Holly replied, as if Sam had asked if it was sunny.

"That's explains Stella's eye colour," Mikaela piped in.

"…and my hair colour." Holly nodded to the brunette.

Both teens looked at her oddly, until she sighed, "My hair is amethyst."

As Holly moved her head, they noticed that under the unnatural light of the base, her long dark hair held indeed a nice, almost imperceptible, shade of blue and purple.

Ratchet chose that moment to walk inside the control room. He eyed the humans as he passed by, immediately reporting Starscream's status to Optimus, who turned his head from a screenful of crackling static.

"…He's stable, and in recharge. I suggest we keep a vigil on him." Ratchet informed his leader as he finished his report.

Ironhide nodded, cannons spinning dangerously. "Just in case he tries anything."

Ratchet blinked at the weapon specialist. "No, more like in case he has any health problems from the injuries."

"I still don't get why we should worry about the welfare of a Decepticon…" Ironhide growled, "…especially _that_ Decepticon." He filled the word 'that' with all his disgust towards their rival faction.

"Two reasons," Optimus stated, and all the occupants of the room turned towards him. "First off, he's the only one who can give us the answers we need, and I agree with what miss Paxton said."

"Glitch-headed adolescent." Ironhide muttered under his breath.

Ratchet glared at the black Autobot, then asked his leader, "And the other reason?"

"A transformed and offlined fighter jet in the middle of a camping area would have attracted too much attention…" Ironhide grunted in reluctant agreement, as Optimus smirked, turning again to the screen on which a rather large Transformer finally appeared, to Optimus' relief.

"Jetfire, report." Optimus spoke to the black Autobot that appeared on the screen. The humans turned to him as well.

Jetfire's large and black frame was impressive even on a screen, although less than half of his body was visible. The cockpit of the Blackbird rested on his bulky chest, while the two powerful engines laid on his back, and the turbines formed his arms. The jet's wings jutted from his shoulders, two bright Autobot symbols on each of them. He was mostly black, except for his helm, which had two white wings on each audio receptor; he also had a white mouthplate on the lower part of his face, so it was impossible to see his lips. A small fancy crest fanned from his forehead slope, giving his optics, which were covered by a red piece of glass, a much deeper setting.

"As I was saying before the connection went lost, we've been attacked by the Decepticons…" Jetfire continued his report.

_Flashback _

_The dust was so thick and full of particles, it was impossible to see through. The sound of explosions filled the air around him. And then there was fire. Everywhere. Smoke and ashes made the air un-breathable; metal shards and panels fell screeching from what remained of the ceiling._

"_Jetfire!" the black Autobot heard a male voice calling for him._

"_Jetfire!" Again, someone was calling his name, but this time the voice was different._

_The jet tried to move, and was immediately aware of something heavy on top of him. He slowly coughed to expel the dust clogging his intakes, as memories of what happened started to flash before his optics._

_He'd heard the whooshing of a missile, and crouched protectively over Rad and Carlos. Those voices… They were theirs!_

_He raised his head up, but the dust was too thick to see through. He switched to infrared, his visor taking a deep shade of green. He was relieved upon seeing the two humans sweated and dusty, but barely scratched._

_Wait a nanoklick… _

"_Where's Alexis?" Jetfire raised to his feet, after making sure he would not hurt the humans, the debris on his back fell off easily._

"_I… don't know… she was… near us… then… I…" Carlos stammered, visibly shocked, as he looked around fervently to see if he could spot Alexis._

"_Calm down, boy!" Jetfire exclaimed – ordered is more like it. _

_The Spanish human shut his mouth, looking up at the enormous jet. Jetfire was scanning the area around them with his visor. The state of the building was hard to describe. The ceiling had collapsed in on itself, beams and girders thrown haphazardly across each other. The remains of the walls were melting as red flames danced around them._

"_There she is!" Jetfire pointed somewhere in front of them, but the humans couldn't see where exactly, due to the dust._

_The black Autobot walked slowly and cautiously to a gap in the debris, after the two humans climbed on his offered hand._

_Alexis was in a sitting position on the dusty floor, her back leaned on a beam that fell from the ceiling and had probably shielded her frame from more injuries._

"_ALEXIS!!" Rad screamed, but the woman didn't respond._

_Her skin, barely visible under the blanket of ashes the explosion provided, was completely colourless. As his eyes slid on her unconscious form, Rad could see the cracked thighbone that had punctured Alexis's white pants, and was now sticking out of her right leg, despite her attempt to cover it with her hand._

_Blood was pooling all around the open wound, and mixing with gray dust, and what was worse, was that she had lost a large amount of it, and therefore lost her consciousness._

"_ALEXIS!!" Rad screamed again, trying to jump off Jetfire's hand, but he stopped him._

"_Rad, calm down!" the jet ordered. "She's alive." He said, thinking it was what scared him the most._

"_But she needs a doctor!" Rad snapped._

"_I agree," Jetfire nodded, scooping cautiously and carefully Alexis's damaged form as not to worsen her condition. //Red Alert, this is Jetfire. Come in! we've got an emergency!// he radioed the medic._

_Static was all he heard, before the English accented voice answered in a hurried tone. //Jetfire!// then the sound of an explosion cut the rest off._

_//Red? Come in, Red!// _

_Another explosion, this time followed by the sounds of laser zipping in the air, and Coby's voice screaming at the top of his lungs. Well, at least he was still alive, the jet commented in his CPU._

_//Jetfire!// finally, Red Alert could contact him. //(static)… We're under attack… (static)… Coby's ok… (static)… but Thunderblast-//_

"_RED!!" Jetfire shouted when the connection was cut off._

"_What's happening?" Carlos asked still very shocked._

"_I don't-argh!" Jetfire had to crouch down as a missile almost hit the four of them. When he turned his winged head to the attacker, his optics widened behind his visor._

"_Thundercracker!" he hissed._

"_Hey, Jetfire!" the blue F-14 smirked evilly. "Long time no see!"_

"_Yeah. Why did you have to ruin it?" the black jet replied sarcastically._

_Thundercracker chuckled. "I'm gonna miss ya!" his smirk widened, as he aimed his Null Ray at the helpless Autobot. "On second thought: you know I never miss a target!" he said as he readied himself to fire, positive that Jetfire wouldn't be able to avoid the blast without hurting the humans._

_But before the jet could pull the trigger, red lasers fell on him like rain, forcing Thundercracker to retreat._

"_Who's there?!" the blue Tomcat shouted in surprise, as he backed away with his arms raised defensively in front of him._

_Jetfire was as surprised as the Decepticon. At first he thought of Red Alert running out of the basement to their rescue, but when he acknowledged that the shots were coming from the sky, he changed his mind._

_Thundercracker continued to back off, until he bumped into Soundwave. "Thunderblast ordered to retreat." His monotone voice informed the jet, who nodded, as the helicopter transformed, and followed the __purple and yellow Audi._

_Thundercracker turned to Jetfire, "This ain't over!" he thundered towards the Autobot. "And that goes for you too!!" he shouted to no one in particular, before transforming and following the others suit._

_Jetfire took a look at the sky, and he spotted a yellow helicopter flying in circles above them. _

"_Hey! No, wait!!" Jetfire shouted after it, but in that moment the pilot decided to fly away from there. "Thanks," Jetfire whispered, still watching the yellow vehicle becoming a dark point smaller and smaller in the blue sky._

"_Who was that guy?" Carlos asked exasperated, glancing wearily at Rad, who had moved to the same hand Alexis was in._

"_Not sure," Jetfire replied, then turned to Red Alert when he saw the medic making his way out of the debris. "How's Coby?" he asked._

"_F-fine," the blonde stammered. "God, what happened to Alexis?!" he asked shocked._

"_She needs a medic!" Rad exclaimed._

"_Will do!" Red Alert said, then put Coby down so he could fold his rather massive form into his alt, a white BMW X5 with red and blue stripes, and load Alexis inside him. "Carlos, go call Dr. Olim. He's one of the survivors. He's on the other side of the base." The brown haired man ran to where the Autobot had told him._

"_How many survivors?" the black Autobot asked._

"_About twenty. But they're not critical." The SUV replied._

"_Can it be worse?" Jetfire asked rhetorically._

"_They took it." Red Alert said dryly. Jetfire's spark __dropped down to the floor. _

"_Oh, slag!"_

_End of flashback_

Optimus' head lowered in thought. He didn't like that. "Well, the most important thing is that you're all fine."

Jetfire nodded. "Yes, we've been lucky. Alexis was the most injured: she has a broken leg, but she'll be fine. The humans moved her and the others to a medical facility in Los Angeles."

"Ratchet, can you take Stella and Holly there? I'm sure they'll be happy to see their parents." Optimus asked, and the CMO nodded, glancing to a smiling Holly.

"Hey, where's Stella?" Sam asked, noticing the blonde's absence.

"With Starscream," Ratchet muttered.

"I swear to Primus, that girl's gonna get killed!" Ironhide grumbled, shaking his black head.

"Starscream?" Jetfire asked confused.

Optimus turned to Ratchet. "It's time for you to go. Meet Jetfire and Red Alert at these coordinates." The leader transmitted the coordinates of the hospital Alexis and the others were in.

He watched the two head out the control room, hoping that Stella was doing okay, and slightly wondering about the whole Starscream thing, like Sam would say. He then thought about the connection between Thrust's attack and Thunderblast's raid. The only link between the two assaults was that if Thrust would take them occupied they couldn't go assist Jetfire and the others, so that Thunderblast could take the last fragment of the All Spark. That made sense. But somehow, the ruby and sapphire semi had the feeling that there was more than that. For example: Starscream's role in the matter?

Optimus sighed, stuffing those thoughts in the back of his CPU, and turned to Jetfire, to tell him about the fight with Thrust and Starscream.

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The creature on the berth groaned with a low shriek of a screeching metallic sound that would have made even Ironhide stumble. As his red optics flared to life, Starscream found out that he was in some sort of hospital, judging from the décor.

The second thing he discovered was that his arms weren't tied to the berth (not that he could go anywhere with his wounds), and the small human female staring at him like a frightened deer. She was standing cautiously near a chair she must have occupied before he startled her with his groans.

He was really confused when he saw a human near him – not to mention, his head was aching badly – but, against his better judgment, the Decepticon decided to talk to her. "Where am I?" he murmured, red lights were burning like the fires of Hell in her human eyes.

"You're in the Autobot medical bay." The girl said loud enough for him to hear, but low enough not to hurt his audio receptors.

He blinked at her in confusion, taking her in with a scathing movement of his optics up and down her lithe body.

She would be considered beautiful by most, with a thin figure that stood at a fairly average human height. He noticed that her skin was pale, but in a healthy way. Her waist-long hair was blond, like that of many humans, and, as she stood, her hair pooled around her like a waterfall of sunlight. As she looked at him, _straight_ in the optics, he noted her abnormal eyes, gold like her hair, that spoke for her of tiredness and… was that worry?

"Optimus Prime must have blown a circuit leaving a _human_ guarding me." he suddenly whispered in a scratchy voice, a mocking smirk behind his mouthplate.

Stella frowned involuntarily, forgetting for a moment who she was talking to. "I'm not guarding you," she said aloud firmly, "I'm… watching over you." She added with a small smile.

He couldn't _believe_ what his optical receptors were recording. Was this female actually _smiling _at him? What was the matter with her? Why was she being so nice to him? He was a Decepticon! He didn't _stand _those fleshy creatures… And yet, it looked like one of those creatures wasn't afraid of him. For some reason that intrigued him…

"Aren't you afraid of me?" he asked raising an optic ridge.

"Why?" she shrugged. "Is there a reason I should be afraid of you?"

"I am a Decepticon." he said it as if that was the answer she was expecting.

She was fighting the urge to burst out laughing at his answer, and raised an eyebrow instead. "Then why did you save me in the first place?"

Starscream narrowed his optics. "I didn't save _**you**_!" he snarled, emphasising the last word with all his disgust.

Stella lowered her head. His voice was so _heartless…_

Starscream turned on the berth in an attempt to make his back face her, but the hole in his shoulder prevented him to do it.

He groaned in pain, causing Stella to look at him.

"How's your shoulder?" she asked needlessly.

"Why do you care?!" he spat back, turning to her, and groaning again.

Stella frowned. _As if that's any way to treat someone who's being nice to you, jerk!_ She thought angrily. But then her expression softened. "You saved me; I owe you my life."

"You don't owe me anything!" he replied – roared is more like it.

Stella's face saddened, as she cast her sight to her feet.

"Aww, why so sad, _human_?" Starscream replied in a teasing way. "Not for me, I hope."

"Well, no offence, but no, not for you," she folded her arms across her chest. "At least not entirely…" she added in a whisper, which he didn't pick up. "I'm worried about my mom."

For some odd reason, Starscream found himself curious about that. Seeing that he didn't make any attempt to shut her up, she continued.

"The Decepticons ambushed the Autobot base in Alaska, and my mom is now at the hospital… I sure hope she's okay."

"Thrust was just a distraction, so that Thunderblast could attack your base…" Starscream realized, saying that aloud, but not speaking directly to Stella.

"W-What did that other Decepticon want with me?" Stella asked, timidly in spite herself, after a short pause.

"Nothing your simple brain can comprehend, _human_!" Starscream's optics burned with disgust.

"Hey, stop calling me _human_! I have a name, you know!" Stella spat, unfolding her arms to let her hands clench into fists, which she put on her hips angrily. She didn't like people to call her names. Whether humans or robots.

"I don't _care _what your name is, _insect_!" Starscream snapped. _How dare this fleshling talk to me like that?!_

"Can't you just be gentle for once?" she asked exasperated.

"Do you know who I am?!" Starscream asked incredulously. No human ever talked to him like that. This girl was playing with fire.

"You are Starscream." Stella simply said.

"If you already know who I am, then I don't need to know your pathetic name." He smirked, tone laden with narcissism.

"My name is Stella Paxton." She said firmly, ignoring his last rant. "Nice to meet you, Starscream."

The Decepticon turned menacingly narrowed crimson optics towards her, roaring at her audacity. "It won't be nice once I-"

Fortunately for Stella, Ratchet stepped inside his Med Bay, cutting the Decepticon in mid-sentence, and raised his saw towards him. "The girl's actually being decent to you," he growled, putting himself between them. "Show her some respect, you glitchhead! If it wasn't for her, we'd have left you behind!"

Starscream was taken aback by what Ratchet said. The girl asked the Autobots to fix him? He could believe that she succeeded. With her annoying manners… he just couldn't believe that she wanted to save him. HIM! Starscream, the most untrustworthy, and backstabbing Decepticon ever created! Maybe she was glitched in her head, or maybe she just didn't know who he was.

Not wanting to give them the satisfaction to see his confusion, a rather disturbing, manic sound left his vocalizer as Starscream laughed. "How touching!" he remarked snidely, turning back towards her, and making Ratchet shield her whole frame with his shin, as he glared daggers at the fighting jet.

Ignoring the glare he was receiving, he continued his teasing speech. "I assure you, medic, that I will never do _anything_ to harm such a pretty creature…" his optics burned again inside her human eyes, as she poked from behind Ratchet's shin plate. "…If you keep her, and her annoying voice, out of my way!" Starscream roared darkly.

Ratchet sighed, and turned to Stella as if Starscream wasn't even there. "Come on, Stella." He said, offering his hand for her to climb. "It's time to see your mother."

Stella smiled brightly at the CMO, pausing only a moment to look back at the laying Decepticon, who never tore his optics off of her. Starscream had a look that was a mix of 'If you open that mouth again, I'll kill you' and 'If you have to speak, at least kill me first'. He had made it clear that he had no wish whatsoever to be there, let alone having a human with a big mouth near him.

Stella sighed, and climbed on Ratchet's offered hand. Starscream powered down his optics, as he slipped into a much needed recharge, not saying another word as they left the Med Bay.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh, why me?!" Dr. Amy O'Connor snivelled as her head dropped on top of the table in the room where medics and nurses could go relax during their breaks.

She was a pretty woman, about in her early thirties, who had healthy, creamy skin, and green eyes. Her dark red hair hung loosely down her back. She sat in her chair watching her cup of chocolate.

Amy was depressed; her _ex_-boyfriend cheated on her with her _EX-_best friend and she couldn't believe that this was happening to her.

"Dr. O'Connor?" a nurse entered the room, and a groan escaped the depressed medic.

"Aaamyyy?" The nurse asked cunningly, poking her head as if trying to find out if the woman was alive.

"Don't poke, I'm alive," she whined as she raised her head to look at the blond nurse.

"Oh, honey!" the nurse hugged her tightly, a bit too tight for comfort. "C'mon. You have to go on with your life!"

"Can I go on after I've whimpered enough?" Amy asked rolling her eyes.

The nurse released her, giggling. "You've already complained enough!" she gave her a big smile. "Oh, there's people who want to see Mr. and Mrs. White," the nurse winked at the nickname they gave to one of the most famous couple of the year. "And I believe you're gonna like them!"

"Who?" Amy asked as she stood.

"There are three man…" she let the sentence hang in the air.

"Claire…" Amy warned. In her state, the last thing she needed was beginning another relationship.

"But, Amy! You have to see them! They're so HOT, I don't even think such beauty is from Earth!!" Claire exclaimed mischievously, as both walked towards the group waiting for them.

_But the young nurse didn't know how right she was…_

Amy took a deep breath, as she stopped in front of a group of strange people. One of them had blue hair, while another had gold eyes! But then again, who was she to judge?

"Good afternoon. I am Dr. O'Connor. I do believe you are Alexis Paxton's daughter?" she said. She'd never met the blond girl, but her friends read so many gossips that she was sure the girl in front of her was Stella.

"Yes, I am." The blonde said, shaking Amy's offered hand. "And these are Holly Hansen, and… uh, Dr. Red, and um… Holly's uncle, Jet… and Dr. Ratchet…" Stella stammered trying to introduce the Autobots with names that wouldn't have raised questions.

"Please to meet you." Amy said, as she turned to see which one was which, and shook eagerly their hands.

She just hesitated for a moment, when she shook the last mentioned person's hand, her eyes meeting his for an instant.

Ratchet looked back at her, with something indiscernible in his eyes. She was smaller than him, only a bit taller than Stella, but her skin was just as pale. Her red hair stood out on her white coat, and underneath it he could see that she was sporting a black strapless top over a maroon skirt that reached her knee.

"Oh, you want to see your parents." Amy said, breaking the embarrassed silence that fell upon them. "This way," she said, after letting go of Ratchet's hand, and motioned to a nurse to follow them.

Amy went ahead of them with Holly at her side, while Red and Jetfire decided to wait for them in the waiting room. Stella walked up to the CMO. She hadn't miss the strange glance exchange he had with the human doctor.

"So?" she asked, startling the medic.

"What?" Ratchet asked annoyed.

Stella gave him a malicious grin. "What about her?"

"About who?"

"Are you kidding? I saw how you two looked at each other!" Stella winked at the medic's confused expression. "Dr. O'Connor!" she snorted exasperated.

Ratchet blinked.

"What do you think about her?" Stella asked maliciously.

"I need more information to know if she is accomplish in her-" Ratchet started, but the blonde cut him off.

"No!" she sighed. "I meant: do you like her?"

"Like her?" he repeated.

"Yeah," she batted her eyes lovingly.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about." The medic spat in his harsh tone, in spite his small uncertainty at the beginning, and a bit of red Energon starting to colour his cheeks.

"Miss Paxton?" Amy cleared her throat, and Stella tore her attention from the blushing medic. "Here's your parents. Don't stay long." She warned, then started to walk away.

"Uh, Dr. O'Connor?" the red headed woman turned. "I'm not that good with the medic speech, but Mr. Ratchet here is a doctor too. Can you please talk to him about our parents' conditions?" she said sweetly.

Amy smiled, maybe a little too eager, and motioned for Ratchet to follow her, a light shade of pink spread on her pale cheeks.

Ratchet glared daggers at the blonde, who just smirked triumphantly at him, as he was forced to follow the human doctor.

"You're evil!" Holly commented as she followed the two medics with her green eyes.

"I know," Stella smirked, and opened the door to their parents' room, but turned to her friend. "Holly, please don't talk about Starscream, ok?"

Her dark haired friend nodded in agreement, before they entered the room and greeted their parents.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well?" Stella asked Ratchet's hologram mischievously as they all exited the hospital to head to the parking.

"Well what?" Ratchet asked as he walked to his altform, not even glancing at the girl beside him.

"Did you get very far?" Stella demanded with a big grin on her face, as she blocked the medic's path. Red Alert just shook his blue-haired head, as did Holly.

"Far? We didn't move from the hospital. Dr. O'Connor's office is five metres away from the room your parents-" Ratchet started, but the blonde cut him off.

"Expression, expression!" Stella wailed exasperated. "Oh, forget it!"

Jetfire chuckled as a confused and annoyed CMO ordered the two humans to get into his altmode so that they could go home.

"Hey, Ratch? Mind if I take Stella on a lil' trip?" the black-haired, Aussie accented man asked, stepping closer to the blonde.

"She's all yours!" Ratchet agreed eagerly, relief filling his voice.

"Hey!" Stella whined, then she turned to Holly, who was getting into the Hummer. "I want to know every _nasty_ detail!" she smirked, and Holly blushed slightly. She didn't like being the one to ask such private questions… that was Stella's place anyway.

She obviously knew Stella was kidding. Holly was too shy to start a conversation like that, and they both knew that. Stella just loved to play with her friend's embarrassment.

Stella chuckled, winking at the going-to-be-very-mad CMO, then his hologram disappeared when he started his engine, and drove towards the base followed by Red Alert.

Jetfire just shook his head, as the blonde followed him to his jet form; few minutes later, his powerful engines soared the skies.

"So… what did you want to tell me, Big Guy?" Stella asked, making herself more comfortable in Jetfire's seat.

"I heard 'bout Starscream…" he started. "Y'know, 'bout what he did." He could feel Stella stiffen on the seat. "That's an old side of him I hadn't seen in eons…"

"You talk about him like you've known him for an entire life," she said.

Jetfire sighed. "Y'know, Jetfire isn't my first designation…"

"Really?" that spiked Stella's curiosity. "And what was it?" she asked eagerly.

"I was once known as Skyfire." His voice sounded melancholy.

"Aww, why did you change it? It's easier to make puns with it!" Stella joked.

If Jetfire would have been in robot mode, she could have seen a sad smile spread under his mouthplate. The jet sighed again, and started to tell his story. Something he did rarely, but he felt the need to open up with this human girl.

"On the planet Cybertron, long before the war, I worked as a scientist and an explorer with Starscream. Yeah, I was Starscream's friend before the war." The jet gave a little chuckle at Stella's stunned expression.

"Together we investigated your planet millions of years before your species evolved; in fact, to our dismay, we failed to find any kind of intelligent life. I wished to scrutinize the planet further, but, as I moved in closer to the planet, a polar wind storm swept me up, burying me beneath the arctic ice. Many years later, I found a way to escape my icy prison, and returned to Cybertron."

"Didn't Starscream help you once you got caught up in the storm? Didn't he look for you?" Stella asked.

"When I re-found him again, he claimed to have searched for me." Stella felt the jet rocking a bit, signalling Jetfire did something similar to shrug.

"But that doesn't explain why you changed your name," Stella stated.

"If you let me finish…!" at that, she stuck her tongue at the red light on the dashboard, which blinked anytime the Autobot talked. "As I said, I returned to Cybertron, but found it… different." His voice now took a sad, yet somewhat angry tone. "I returned to my planet to find only rubble and ruins, where once the spires of a cityscape would reach for the sky. Believe it or not, I even joined the Decepticons, but I questioned my allegiance after seeing the brutality and violence of my former friend Starscream and his comrades. They even ordered me to execute an Autobot search party once! For Primus' sake: I'm a scientist, not an executioner!" the jet shook with anger.

"Then what happened?" Stella asked in a whisper, not really sure if she wanted to know the epilogue.

"After refusing to destroy them, Starscream attacked me. That's how I changed my allegiance… and my name. From that day on, the Decepticon Skyfire ceased to exist, and the valued Autobot Jetfire came to life. And I have to say that, despite the fact that I remained with the Autobots, my prior hesitance and prior friendship with Starscream caused other Autobots to mistrust me… but then again, I guess I can't entirely blame them."

When he finished his story, tears formed at the corners of Stella's eyes. "I… Jetfire, I'm… sorry, I'm an idiot! What I told you before about your name… I'm sorry, I… don't oxygenate my brain before I talk!" she buried her face in her hands sobbing boisterously.

"Hey, hey! What's that, girl? You ain't gonna cry, are ya?" Jetfire chuckled, but seeing that her sobs didn't stop, he added in a more comforting way, "C'mon, don't cry, Stella. It ain't your fault. You didn't know. It's ok! Please don't cry, I hate it when you cry!" he sounded desperate, almost begging the girl to stop her crying. He didn't like the high-pitched whining sounds that humans made when they were sad, and would happily say anything to stop it. Luckily for him, Stella cried rarely, but when she did it, she really let the water run.

Once she regained her composure – after fifty-five minutes of pleading from Jetfire – Stella decided to ask, "J-Jetfire?" she sniffed, her gold eyes almost orange for her crying.

"Yeah?" the jet replied.

"D-do you think, maybe, the Starscream you knew from before the war is still there somewhere?" she gazed at the red light which had blinked till few seconds ago, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Jetfire paused. It seemed like he wanted to think about that question. Like it was what he was expecting her to ask. Finally he sighed. "Part of me wishes that to be the truth, but the part who had met both Starscreams doesn't believe that possible. He'd changed, Stella. A lot…"

"But why did he save me, then?" she argued.

"I don't know." He replied. "But," he added softly, "If the Starscream I knew is still there, I'll help you find him."

Stella's smile grew wider. "Thank you, Jetfire!"

"But," he continued, ignoring her eager mood. "This is a dangerous game we're gonna play. It can leave you scarred – in _any_ possible ways!"

"I'm not afraid. Besides, I'm in Starscream's debt, and I want to repay him." The blonde said firmly. "So, will you help me?" Stella asked.

"You don't know him like me. He can play with your feelings, and I don't want you to get hurt!"

"You want your friend back, don't you? I want to repay the debt I have with him. I'm ready for everything, I don't care how tough this will be! I'm not afraid to get hurt."

"Ok, ok. Let's just say that I'll be there to protect you from him… I don't want to encourage you on such a dangerous path." Jetfire replied.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Stella smiled, leaning back in her seat. "Hey, where are we anyway?" she asked, eyeing the scenery below them.

"Somewhere above Las Vegas," Jetfire said nonchalantly.

"Talking about a lil' trip!" she joked as the jet soared out into the sky to return home at last.

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Hope you liked it!!

Until next time…! ;-)


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